Google just made nuclear energy history, partnering with the Tennessee Valley Authority to purchase electricity from the nation's first advanced reactor deal involving a US utility. The groundbreaking agreement will power Google's AI data centers through Kairos Power's revolutionary molten salt reactor technology, expected online by 2030.
Google just rewrote the playbook for corporate energy procurement. The tech giant's partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority to purchase electricity from Kairos Power's next-generation reactor marks the first power purchase agreement for advanced nuclear technology that any US utility has signed, according to Google's announcement.
The timing couldn't be more critical. As Google's carbon emissions rose again last year while the company ramps up its AI offerings, the search for clean, reliable power has become urgent. The Hermes 2 demonstration plant will feed 50MW directly into the local grid serving Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama once it comes online in 2030.
This builds on Google's broader nuclear strategy announced last October to purchase electricity from multiple Kairos Power reactors. But Hermes 2 represents something entirely different – the first concrete step toward deploying technology that could "jumpstart a whole new era for nuclear energy," as industry observers are calling it.
Kairos Power isn't building your grandfather's nuclear reactor. Where conventional plants use water as coolant, Kairos employs molten fluoride salt – a fundamental shift that allows the reactor to since the salt has a and doesn't reach a boil.