⚛ Atomic Amazon: The American nuclear revival takes another step forward

Big Tech’s AI needs provide a compelling value proposition for pro-nuclear societal license

Statistically, America’s Atomic Age never really ended. Nuclear’s share of US energy production is about the same as it was 40 years ago. What did end in the 1970s was an expansive vision of fission (then fusion) as the primary power source for, well, just about everything. 

Example: During the 1964 World Fair in New York, The New York Times commissioned Isaac Asimov to write a speculative essay about an exhibition 60 years in the future. The science fiction author foresaw a world thoroughly powered by nuclear energy: “The appliances of 2014 will have no electric cords, of course, for they will be powered by long-lived batteries running on radioisotopes. The isotopes will not be expensive for they will be by-products of the fission-power plants which, by 2014, will be supplying well over half the power needs of humanity.” The future fair would also feature emerging nuclear fusion technology, according to Asimov.

It’s now been 70 years since that essay, and humanity may finally be returning to the nuclear pathway it abandoned, pretty much, decades ago. The latest data point: Amazon is investing in small modular reactors, a new and unproven nuclear fission technology, with agreements in Washington and Virginia. The retailing and cloud computing giant is backing X-Energy by leading a $500 million funding round to develop over 5GW of new power projects across the US by 2039. The move addresses Amazon’s growing energy needs — especially for Amazon Web Services and its expanding generative AI business — and supports the company's zero-carbon goal.