AI and Nuclear Power: A New Era?
The world’s growing appetite for electricity, fueled by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, is driving renewed interest in nuclear power. Global electricity demand is projected to increase by more than 10,000 terawatt-hours by 2035 – equivalent to the current consumption of all advanced economies.
AI’s energy footprint is significant. A medium-sized data center consumes as much electricity as 100,000 homes. the International Energy Agency reports data center demand jumped over 75% between 2023 and 2024, and is expected to account for more than 20% of electricity demand growth in advanced economies by 2030.
In the United States, where many leading AI companies are based, AI-driven data processing is predicted to surpass the combined electricity use of the aluminum, steel, cement, and chemical industries by the end of the decade.
Policymakers, tech companies, and nuclear industry leaders met at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna last December to discuss how nuclear power can support AI expansion, and how AI can innovate within the nuclear sector. IAEA
Training advanced AI models requires thousands of central processing units (CPUs) running continuously for weeks or months. Simultaneously occurring, AI applications are spreading across sectors like healthcare, government, transportation, agriculture, logistics, and education.
“We need clean, stable zero-carbon electricity that is available around the clock,” says Manuel Greisinger, a senior manager at Google focusing on AI. “This is an extremely high threshold, and it is indeed not achievable with wind and solar power alone. AI is the engine of the future, but an engine without fuel is almost useless. Nuclear energy is not onyl an option, but also an indispensable core component of the future energy structure.”
© Unsplash/Geoffrey Moffett
A data centre in Ireland.
Nuclear Industry Optimism
IAEA Director General Manuel Grossi shares Greisinger’s view, believing nuclear power is poised to become the energy partner of the AI revolution. “Only nuclear energy can meet the five needs of low-carbon power generation, round-the-clock reliability, ultra-high power density, grid stability and true scalability,” he stated.
The nuclear industry is responding with optimism. Seventy-one new reactors are under construction globally, adding to the 441 currently operational. The U.S. has ten reactors planned, adding to its existing 94 – the most of any country.
Tech giants are backing this expansion. Microsoft, for example, has a 20-year power purchase agreement that allowed Unit One of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania to reopen.