Nuclear and AI

Which reactors Big Tech is betting on

by Joe Miller

AI data centers need steady power around the clock, so the biggest tech companies are signing nuclear deals across almost every reactor type. Here they are, sorted by type.

Plain-English explainer by Joe Miller, a nuclear engineer. Not investment advice. Figures are the latest public numbers we could find and change fast; sources are at the bottom of each page.

Company	Deal	Reactor type	Target
Microsoft	Three Mile Island Unit 1 restart (now Crane), Pennsylvania	1. PWR (existing plant)	2027
Microsoft	Helion fusion plant, Washington	10. Fusion	2028 target
Google	Duane Arnold restart, Iowa	2. BWR (existing plant)	Early 2029
Google	Kairos Power, up to 500 MW	5. Salt-cooled (TRISO pebble fuel)	2030 to 2035
Amazon	X-energy Xe-100, Washington State	4. High-temperature gas	2030s
Amazon	Talen, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania	2. BWR (existing plant)	Underway
Meta	TerraPower Natrium, up to 8 units	6. Sodium-cooled fast	2032 to 2035
Meta	Oklo Aurora, Ohio	6 and 9. Sodium-cooled microreactor/SMR	About 2030
Meta	Vistra and Constellation existing plants	1 and 2. PWR and BWR	Underway

Dates are the companies' own targets and often slip.

The pattern: existing water reactors for power now, advanced designs for the 2030s, and fusion as a long-shot bet. For the full story on why AI wants nuclear and what it means for your electric bill, see Why Big Tech is buying nuclear power plants, Nuclear vs. the alternatives and Elon Musk's data centers in space at Data Center Critical.

Who's writing this? I'm Joe Miller, a nuclear engineer since 1974 and an ASME Fellow. I've run safety analyses for PWRs and BWRs, directed nuclear engineering at a working BWR, and reviewed new reactor designs for the NRC. This site explains every kind of reactor in plain English. My background and papers.

Sources

Checked November 15, 2026.