Google has signed an agreement with Kairos Power to purchase electricity from several small modular nuclear reactors to meet the growing demand for power in its data centers and AI factories.

Kairos Power plans to operate its first small modular reactor by 2030, followed by five to six additional reactors, eventually generating a combined capacity of 500 megawatts.

The smaller size and standardized design of these reactors can accelerate construction, as they can be manufactured in a single location and then deployed to various sites, making them more cost-effective and efficient to build.

Kairos Power uses a molten salt coolant and ceramic pebble fuel in its reactors to efficiently transfer heat to a steam turbine for power generation. This safe system allows the reactor to operate at low pressure, enabling a simpler and less costly nuclear reactor design.

The company has begun work on its Hermes experimental reactor in Tennessee, the first fourth-generation reactor project in the United States to receive a construction permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Technology companies are increasingly turning to nuclear energy to power their energy-hungry AI facilities. In March, Amazon purchased a data center in Pennsylvania that is powered by a nearby nuclear reactor, and last month, Microsoft agreed with Constellation Energy to restart a unit at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania exclusively for Microsoft.

While nuclear energy is considered a clean energy source, it generates nuclear waste that can have serious long-term environmental consequences.