On Wednesday, amidst a flurry of announcements, Amazon announced that it was looking to build small modular nuclear reactors as a means to satisfy its extensive energy needs in the push to develop AI.
Amazon now joins Google and Microsoft, who have both announced their intentions to use nuclear energy to fuel their AI data centers, which have increased their carbon output.
The deal from Amazon is with Energy Northwest, a consortium of public utilities in Washington state. Now, the company will look to support Energy Northwest in the construction of four small modular reactors.
The reactors are expected to pump out 320 megawatts of power with the ability to build more modules and increase the total capacity to 960 megawatts. The deal will give Amazon the right to purchase electricity from the first four reactors.
“Nuclear is a safe source of carbon-free energy that can help power our operations and meet the growing demands of our customers, while helping us progress toward our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040,” Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services, shared in a statement.
The deal with Energy Northwest isn’t the only one being announced, as Amazon said it will also invest around $500 million in X-energy, an advanced nuclear reactor and fuel company. X-energy’s designs for nuclear reactors will be what is used by Energy Northwest, the company shared.
Dominion Energy is also signing a deal with Amazon to explore the development of small modular reactors near the company’s current nuclear power station, located in Virginia.
The move follows previous goals to address the company’s carbon footprint. Those goals, and goals for other tech companies, have recently been impacted by the introduction of artificial intelligence, which requires massive amounts of energy to operate.
“One of the fastest ways to address climate change is by transitioning our society to carbon-free energy sources, and nuclear energy is both carbon-free and able to scale – which is why it’s an important area of investment for Amazon,” Garman said. “Our agreements will encourage the construction of new nuclear technologies that will generate energy for decades to come.”