Restarting closed nukes to power Ai data centres
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2024 9:30 am
and as we discussed in the HPC thread, with the downstream costs it's not clear if any nuke will be net profitable - or who will pay for the decommissioning and waste storage that far down the line. With a private company-run plant I can see someone else being left holding the baby. We can't even hold a company to account for the remediation of the last coal mine in Wales, which is just a hole in the ground with some spoil nearby! (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67564413)Data & Energy
Tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon have shown an increasing interest in nuclear power as they struggle to meet the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence. Data centers need power 24 hours a day, something wind and solar power alone can’t provide. But many tech firms also have ambitious targets for fighting climate change and prefer not to use electricity produced by burning coal or gas. “Only a few short years ago, tech companies scoffed at buying nuclear electricity,” said Mark Nelson, managing director of Radiant Energy Group, an energy consultancy. “The return of Three Mile Island is the return of hard reality.”
Artificial intelligence is a marvelous thing, no doubt about it. The electricity needed to generate Michael Barnard’s AI graphics alone is about a gigawatt! The amount of money being spent to power data centers is staggering. In his most recent post, Barnard says quite clearly that nuclear power is distracting us from taking the actions needed to address global heating.
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Once refurbished, the reactor at Three Mile Island will have a capacity of 835 megawatts. The New York Times says that is enough to power more than 700,000 homes, but in all likelihood, not one electron from the refurbished nuke will power so much as a light bulb in any residence. The entire output will be used by Microsoft to expand its artificial intelligence capability