Nudging towards nuclear: Rolls Royce proposes powering data centers with nuclear

Rolls Royce is reportedly in talks with Amazon and other tech giants about exploring the possibility of powering data centers with small nuclear reactors (SMR). The project is under development by a consortium led by Rolls-Royce, and funded by a £215 million from the UK government grant last year, and could potentially provide data centers with a low carbon power source. That said, this is not going to be an option available any time soon, and according to reports, not until “at least” 2030.

According to the multinational, the SMR "takes advantage of factory-built modularisation techniques to drastically reduce the amount of on-site construction and can deliver a low-cost nuclear solution that is competitive with renewable alternatives.”

Speaking about the role that SMR’s will have in the future, Tom Samson, CEO of the Rolls-Royce SMR Consortium, said: “Our SMR program has been designed to deliver clean affordable energy for all and does so with a revolutionary new approach aimed at commoditizing the delivery of nuclear power through a factory build modularisation program.”