This startup is getting closer to bringing next-generation nuclear to the grid
Kairos Power signed a big deal with a tech giant and got approval to build its next test facility.
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter.
This is a busy time of year for all of us, and that’s certainly true in the advanced nuclear industry.
MIT Technology Review released our list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch less than two months ago. Since then, awardee Kairos Power has had three big announcements about its progress toward building next-generation nuclear reactors.
Last week, the company (Kairos) announced it received a construction permit for the next iteration of its system, Hermes 2. This plant will share a location with Hermes, and it will include the infrastructure to transform heat to electricity. That makes it the first electricity-producing next-generation nuclear plant to get this approval in the US.
Click here to read the entire article at MIT Technology Review
A message from Tom Blees, president of SCGI
We've recently added two dynamic individuals to our SCGI advisory group: Van Snyder and Robert Hargraves. Both of them have been producing thought-provoking articles on energy systems—particularly nuclear power—for years. And both have recently published books on the subject.
We will be posting selections from their writings in the coming weeks on their advisor pages here on our SCGI website. A recent piece by Van heads up our current newsletter. And here is an article by Bob Hargraves. Full disclosure: Bob is a co-founder of Thorcon, which is the focus of this article. Lest one feels that it smacks of boosterism, I'd just like to add my endorsement of its message. I've been involved with Bob and the other members of the Thorcon team for several years now, and I consider their system to be the most promising new nuclear concept for rapid and massive global deployment. Take a look and see if you get a frisson of optimism for our nuclear future:
A world of good
By Dr. Robert Hargraves
Amazon, Google, and Microsoft just committed billions of dollars to power their data centers with ample, reliable electricity from nuclear power. These competitors realize they must provide more energy-intensive computing for artificial intelligence and information search services. Each, with over $100 billion cash on hand, can afford whatever it costs in this competition. Will this make nuclear power globally affordable?
Beyond such services industries, energy is an essential component of the $40 trillion global production sector — agriculture, industry and manufacturing. These activities have achieved low costs through decades of improvements in uses and costs of energy from burning fossil fuels. People in rich nations benefit from the inexpensive food, affordable transportation, and powerful smartphones.
Only LOW COST nuclear power will impact our future.
Spent fuel isn't nuclear waste
By Van Snyder
I received a "Nuclear News Bulletin" from nuclearmatters.com, in which they celebrated the re-opening of Three Mile Island and Palisades.
In response, I sent them this note:
Thanks for advocating for nuclear power, but….
A critical part of the nuclear power system is spent fuel processing. Spent fuel isn't nuclear waste. It's valuable 5%-used fuel. The unused-fuel part needs custody for 300,000 years. It's daft to pretend it can be hidden that long. The pyramids were plundered before 500 years! A far better idea is to turn it into electricity and fission products. Fission products are produced at the rate of about one tonne (1,000 kg) per GWe-year. 9.26% of fission products -- caesium and strontium -- need custody for 300 years. Half the rest are innocuous before thirty years, and the remainder aren't even radioactive. A 1,700 GWe all-electric all-nuclear American economy would produce less than 160 tonnes of caesium and strontium per year -- about the weight of one dime per American household -- which wouldn't quite fill nine cement-mixer trucks. We can handle that quite easily -- much more easily than trying to hide 34,000 tonnes of valuable 5%-used fuel every year.
Amazon signs agreements for innovative nuclear energy projects to address growing energy demands
New Small Modular Reactor agreements are part of Amazon’s
plan to transition to carbon-free energy.
As we continue on our path to net-zero carbon, we recently announced that we matched all of the electricity consumed by our global operations with 100% renewable energy—seven years ahead of our 2030 goal. As the energy needs of our business and customers continue to grow, we’re continuing to invest in renewables while also finding additional sources of carbon-free energy that can both help power our operations and bring new sources of energy to the grid. Nuclear power is one part of that mix—it can be brought online at scale, and has a decades-long record of providing a reliable source of safe carbon-free energy for communities around the world.
Google Bets Big on Nuclear: Inks Deal with Kairos Power for 500-MW SMR Fleet to Power Data Centers
In a deal that marks the first corporate agreement to deploy multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S., Kairos Power, and Google have signed a Master Plant Development Agreement to facilitate the development of a 500-MW fleet of molten salt nuclear reactors by 2035 to power Google’s data centers. The first reactor is expected to be operational by 2030.
The agreement positions Alameda, California–based Kairos Power, developer of the 140-MWe fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR), to develop, build, and operate a series of advanced reactor power plants. Kairos will sell the plants’ energy, ancillary services, and environmental attributes to Google under power purchase agreements (PPAs).
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- Desperate for power, AI hosts turn to nuclear industry
- Federal push to add nuclear power begins
- Bill Gates says nuclear power is the only way to fully decarbonize grids
- How a nuclear bill became this Congress’ first big energy win
- 5 Reasons Nuclear Is a Good Neighbor
- ...the next nuclear breakthrough
- AI for nuclear plants? ORNL supercomputer's new task is no sci-fi - it's a clean energy win
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