Even though consumer electricity consumption has remained relatively unchanged for decades, energy demand is rising. Power-hungry data centers concentrated in a handful of states are sapping power from the grid at unprecedented rates. Tech giants have turned to nuclear for clean, accessible power.
Nuclear provides a reliable, zero-emissions alternative to fossil fuels and renewables. If companies’ proposals pass and their projects progress, nuclear-powered data centers could become the norm. How would this change impact the average person? The implications are far-reaching and significant.
1. Reduce Power Grid Maintenance Costs
Data centers are power-hungry. They consume more energy per floor space than typical commercial office buildings by a factor of 10 to 15, according to the United States Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. Today, most electricity they need comes directly from the power grid.
A nuclear-powered data center produces power independently, reducing the amount of electricity generated, transformed, and distributed through the grid. This way, it experiences less wear and tear, making maintenance less urgent. While the infrastructure needs to be updated soon, the upfront costs will be less expensive.
2. Enhance Data Center Performance
Facilities filled to the brim with server racks, networking equipment, and data storage systems generate a lot of heat. If computer hardware gets too hot, its performance purposefully worsens to avoid damaging internal components. Whether facility operators use industrial fans or non-conductive liquid, their cooling system requires a lot of power. It’s important to ensure that all equipment gets the proper airflow and will keep components running at optimal levels.
With nuclear, facility operators can run their cooling systems without worrying about the strain their energy consumption puts on the power grid. Lower, more consistent temperatures mean their equipment will run better, enhancing performance. For end users, this means higher speeds, less lag, and fewer service interruptions.
3. Accelerate Technology Development
Data centers are popping up nationwide because of cloud and artificial intelligence solutions advancements. For instance, over 90% of organizations have already adopted cloud computing technology. This global push has tech giants racing to corner the market. Unfortunately, they need a lot of electricity to do so.
These technologies are popular but incredibly resource-intensive — AI alone consumes 10% to 20% of all the energy the country’s data centers use. Limited computing power could theoretically stagnate advancement in this field.
Nuclear is one of the few clean power sources that can handle these resource-intensive technologies — renewable energy production is simply far too inconsistent. It would support domestic tech companies, helping the U.S. dominate the global AI and cloud computing markets.
4. Make Neighborhoods Less Noisy
Servers, networking equipment, and industrial cooling systems are loud. A conventional data center runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, producing 55 to 85 decibels the entire time. For reference, that’s about as loud as an alarm clock or a riding lawnmower. From a distance, it isn’t enough to be a nuisance. However, the noise is often much closer.
In Virginia — the country’s hub for data center construction — one county approved plans for a 70-foot-tall facility within about 50 feet of a mobile home community. Having the equivalent of a riding lawnmower constantly whirring just a backyard away isn’t exactly a pleasant thought.
Currently, facility operators build wherever they can find space. Since there are few rural spots where grid connections are available, they often end up next to communities. Nuclear could provide direct, independent connections, meaning they wouldn’t have to build so close to people’s homes. Instead, they could build wherever it made the most sense.
5. Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change
Experts believe power-hungry data centers’ appetites will soon expand, projecting they will consume 32 Gigawatts (GW) of power by 2029, up from 21 GW in 2024. Today, most of the country’s power supply comes from non-renewables like coal, oil or natural gas. Crucially, there simply aren’t enough wind or solar farms where data center development occurs.
Each GW is roughly the amount generated by a single nuclear power plant, meaning facility operators will need to build, reopen, or utilize 32 plants by 2029 if they plan on avoiding fossil fuels. Since there are already 54 actively operating in the country, clean energy is within reach. This move would significantly reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions.
6. Provide Around-the-Clock Power
Like data centers, nuclear power plants run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Since they’re designed to withstand severe weather, unscheduled outages simply don’t happen. They also operate at full capacity 90% of the time, making them around 1.5 times more reliable than natural gas and up to 3.5 times more reliable than renewables. As a result, people don’t have to worry about power outages nearly as often.
7. Make Utility Bills More Affordable
If the country’s power grid were a person, it would be just about old enough to retire. Much of it was built in the 1960s and 1970s. Even though consumers’ electricity consumption has remained relatively unchanged for the past few decades, outages are growing increasingly common because of the time-worn energy infrastructure.
If current trends continue, local power companies will soon supply most of their power to data centers — even though these facilities only account for a fraction of their customer base. Consumers will shoulder the excess costs, paying hundreds of dollars annually on top of their average electricity bills.
If facility operators rely on nuclear instead of direct grid connections, local power companies will save on generation, transmission, and distribution if they don’t have to give most of their supply to data centers. Those cost savings will translate into lower utility bills for consumers. Not to mention, costs will fluctuate less often because nuclear is resistant to supply changes.
A Nuclear-Powered Future for Data Centers
Nuclear power plants could give facility operators location flexibility, reduce costs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. These changes would impact consumers, lowering their utility bills, making their neighborhoods less noisy, and improving service performance. At the rate things are evolving, this future will likely come to pass within the next decade.
