Meta has confirmed its plans to use nuclear power to fuel US data centers. The company announced that it’s accepting proposals from nuclear energy developers to work on the project, with the goal of adding between one and four gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity “starting in the early 2030s.”
The company’s request for proposals states that Meta is seeking partners that have experience with “either Small Modular Reactors (SMR) or larger nuclear reactors.” Axios reports that the company is “geographically agnostic” about the location of potential nuclear sites. The company previously had plans to build a nuclear-powered data center, The Financial Times reported earlier this year, but the plans were scuttled after the discovery of a rare species of bees near the site.
“As new innovations bring impactful technological advancements across sectors and support economic growth, we believe that nuclear energy can help provide firm, baseload power to support the growth needs of the electric grids that power both our data centers (the physical infrastructure on which Meta’s platforms operate) as well as the communities around them,” the company wrote in a statement.
Meta isn’t the only major tech company looking to nuclear power to help power its AI ambitions. Google recently announced a deal to build multiple reactors in the US, with the goal of adding 500 megawatts of nuclear power from SMRs. Microsoft also said this year it wants to revive the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to fuel its AI development.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-wants-to-use-nuclear-power-for-its-data-centers-225051671.html?src=rss
