Why Data Centers and Small Nuclear Reactors Belong Together

By Larry Robinson

September 9, 2026

I was an executive in the Aerospace and Defense Industry for over 20 years.  I also was responsible for developing new facilities and technologies for Advanced Manufacturing from both a Administrative and Total Quality Management Perspective.

America is entering a new technological age. Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we conduct research, practice medicine, manufacture products, operate businesses, educate students, communicate, design new technologies, and analyze enormous amounts of information.

Like many of you, I read daily about the protests and attempts to stifle Data Center development around the United States. I believe this is a misguided effort that in actuality, ignores both the potential of improving quality of life, career opportunities, and maintaining American Economic dominance for the decades to come.

Cloud computing has already transformed much of the economy. Artificial intelligence promises to take that transformation much further. But behind this digital revolution stands something surprisingly physical:

The data center. And behind every data center stands something even more fundamental:

Electricity.

The race for technological leadership may increasingly become a race to determine which nations can produce enough reliable, affordable, abundant electricity to power the technologies of the future.

That is why America needs to think seriously about two pieces of infrastructure together:

Data centers and advanced nuclear power.

In particular, small modular reactors—SMRs—could become an important part of the energy system needed to support America’s rapidly expanding digital economy.

Data Centers Are the Factories of the Digital Age

The Industrial Revolution was powered by factories. The digital and artificial-intelligence revolution is increasingly powered by data centers.  A modern data center can contain thousands of servers operating continuously.

These Data Centers are the heart of Artificial intelligence, Cloud computing, and
Internet services
Financial transactions
Scientific research
Medical research
Cybersecurity
Business applications
Government systems
Digital communications
Streaming services
Online commerce

Every time we describe something as being “in the cloud,” we should remember:

The cloud is actually on the ground.

It consists of real buildings filled with real computers connected by real fiber-optic networks—and all of it requires enormous amounts of electricity.

The International Energy Agency reported that data centers consumed roughly 415 terawatt-hours of electricity globally in 2024, about 1.5% of worldwide electricity consumption. Its central projection sees that consumption more than doubling to around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, with AI being the most important driver of that increase.

America is particularly important in this transformation.

The U.S. Department of Energy reported that American data centers consumed about 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023. Depending upon the pace of development, DOE estimated they could consume approximately 6.7% to 12% of U.S. electricity by 2028.

Those numbers should get our attention.

Artificial Intelligence Requires Enormous Computing Power

Traditional computing already requires substantial electricity.  Artificial intelligence raises the stakes.

Training sophisticated AI models requires enormous numbers of calculations. Once those models are trained, millions of people and businesses using them also require computing power.

The IEA projects that electricity consumption from accelerated servers—the systems primarily associated with AI—is likely to grow much faster than electricity use by conventional servers through 2030.

That means America’s technological future increasingly depends upon something we once took almost for granted:

The electrical grid.

We can design the world’s best computer chips. We can develop the world’s best AI models. We can build enormous data centers.

But none of them accomplish anything without electricity. The computer age is rapidly becoming an energy age.

Electricity is Rapidly Becoming America’s Technological Bottleneck

There is an interesting mismatch developing between Technology advancements and our energy infrastructure. Technology companies can move extremely quickly. Power infrastructure however, cannot.

The IEA notes that a data center may be built and operational within two or three years, while major energy infrastructure can require considerably longer because of planning, permitting, construction, financing, equipment, and grid requirements.

That creates a problem. Imagine building an enormous factory and then discovering there isn’t enough electricity available to operate it.

Something similar could happen with AI infrastructure. The IEA estimates that, unless grid and energy bottlenecks are addressed, roughly 20% of planned data-center projects could face delays.

America therefore needs to stop treating energy policy and technology policy as two unrelated subjects.  They are rapidly becoming the same national challenge.

Data Centers Need More Than Electricity—They Need Reliability

A data center isn’t like a household appliance that can simply be turned off whenever electricity becomes scarce.

The digital economy operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. But the sun doesn’t shine continuously, and the wind doesn’t blow continuously.

Financial transactions don’t stop when the sun goes down. Hospitals don’t stop requiring digital information at midnight. Internet services don’t take the night off.

Artificial intelligence systems don’t operate only when weather conditions are favorable.

Data centers therefore place tremendous value upon reliable, around-the-clock electricity.

That is where nuclear power becomes particularly interesting.

The Department of Energy summarized the compatibility rather memorably: data centers operate continuously, and so do nuclear plants. DOE consequently identifies nuclear power as a potentially strong partner for data centers while also acknowledging that technical, regulatory, financing, and deployment hurdles remain.

Why Nuclear Power?

The answer I believe lies with nuclear energy.  Nuclear possesses characteristics particularly well suited to continuous computing loads.

Nuclear energy has several characteristics that make it particularly attractive for large computing facilities.

It can provide:

Large quantities of electricity.

Around-the-clock generation.

High reliability.

Very low operational carbon emissions.

A comparatively small physical footprint for the amount of energy produced.

Most importantly for data centers:

Nuclear power is dispatchable and available day and night.

Wind and solar can play important roles in an energy portfolio, particularly when combined with storage and transmission.

A massive computing infrastructure requires power even when neither is available.

Natural gas can provide dispatchable generation as well and is likely to remain an important part of meeting near-term electricity growth. In fact, the IEA expects renewables and natural gas to provide much of the additional electricity required by data centers through the end of this decade, with nuclear becoming increasingly important thereafter.

This should not be an ideological argument about choosing only one energy source.

America is going to need more energy from multiple sources.

That is why I believe the answer lies with nuclear energy.  Nuclear possesses characteristics particularly well suited to continuous computing loads.

The Problem With Traditional Nuclear Construction

If nuclear power is so attractive, why don’t we simply build many more conventional nuclear plants? The answer involves economics, regulation, construction complexity, financing, and time. Traditional nuclear generating stations are enormous infrastructure projects.

They can require:

Huge upfront capital investment,
lengthy construction schedules,
complex regulatory approval,
large specialized workforces,
and substantial financial risk.

That doesn’t mean America should stop building large reactors. But it does explain the growing interest in another possibility:

Small Modular Reactors.

What Is a Small Modular Reactor?

A Small Modular Reactor, or SMR, is a nuclear reactor designed to produce less power than the enormous reactors traditionally associated with commercial nuclear stations.

But the word modular may ultimately be even more important than the word small.

The goal is to develop reactor designs whose major components can increasingly benefit from standardized manufacturing and repeatable construction rather than treating every nuclear station as an almost entirely unique megaproject.

Think about the difference between:

building one enormous custom product and developing a standardized product that can be manufactured repeatedly.

If the industry can achieve that transition safely and economically, it could potentially change nuclear economics.

The goal is:

standardization,
repeatability,
simplified designs,
potentially shorter construction schedules,
and incremental additions of generating capacity.

Instead of necessarily building one gigantic reactor, a utility or industrial customer could eventually deploy multiple smaller units as demand increases.

Data Centers and SMRs Could Be Natural Partners

Now put these two technologies together.

A large data-center campus needs:

continuous power,
reliable power,
large quantities of power,
predictable long-term supply,
and preferably low-carbon electricity.

An advanced nuclear facility potentially offers:

continuous generation,
high energy density,
long operating life,
and substantial electricity from a relatively compact site.

That is why the relationship between data centers and advanced nuclear power is no longer theoretical.

Some of America’s largest technology companies are already putting significant money behind it.

Google Is Pursuing Advanced Nuclear Power

In 2024, urlGooglehttps://www.google.com/ announced an agreement with Kairos Power to support electricity from multiple advanced small modular reactors.

The agreement contemplates as much as 500 megawatts of new capacity, with the first deployment targeted around 2030 and additional deployments through 2035. Google explicitly connected the decision with growing electricity requirements from AI and the need for reliable round-the-clock power.

The project subsequently became more concrete.

In 2025 Google announced an arrangement involving Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority under which the planned Hermes 2 advanced reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is expected to provide 50 megawatts to TVA’s system beginning around 2030, supporting electricity needs associated with Google’s regional data centers.

This is an extraordinary development.

Google, one of the world’s leading technology companies is effectively saying to us:

The future of artificial intelligence requires us to think seriously about the future of nuclear power.

Amazon Is Moving in the Same Direction

Amazon has also made major commitments to advanced nuclear energy.

Amazon says its arrangement with Energy Northwest in Washington could initially enable 320 megawatts of advanced SMR capacity, with the possibility of expansion to 960 megawatts.

The company has also invested $500 million in X-energy, supporting efforts aimed at bringing more than 5 gigawatts of new advanced nuclear capacity online in the United States by 2039.

When some of America’s largest technology companies independently begin reaching similar conclusions, policymakers should pay attention.

The Future Data Center Could Have Its Own Energy Strategy

For most of the modern electrical age, businesses simply connected to the electrical grid and purchased whatever power they required.

That model is becoming more complicated for extremely large data-center campuses.

A future data center could potentially be developed alongside dedicated or nearby generating capacity, while still maintaining grid connections and backup systems.

The concept could eventually look something like:

Data Center Campus-Dedicated/contracted Advanced Nuclear Generation

Grid Connection-Battery and Backup Systems

Renewable Generation Where Economically Appropriate

Rather than thinking about data centers merely as electricity consumers, we may increasingly need to think of them as integrated technology-and-energy campuses.

SMRs Could Also Strengthen the Grid

There is another important point.

Nuclear development should not simply become a way for wealthy technology companies to secure electricity while everyone else struggles with an overloaded electrical system.

Properly designed projects could add generating capacity that benefits the broader grid.

Google’s Tennessee arrangement, for example, involves TVA purchasing the electricity from the Kairos project rather than simply constructing an isolated private reactor exclusively serving one building.

That type of structure could create a much broader benefit.

New generation built partly because of technology demand could also help:

strengthen regional electrical systems,
support manufacturing,
serve growing communities,
create skilled jobs,
and expand America’s overall generating capacity.

The goal shouldn’t merely be:

“How do we power more data centers?”

The larger question should be:

“How do we use this technological expansion to rebuild America’s energy infrastructure?”

Small Nuclear Plants Could Revitalize American Manufacturing

There is another opportunity hidden inside the SMR revolution. America doesn’t merely need to operate advanced reactors. We should strive to be the global leaders in building them here.

That means developing domestic capabilities involving:

nuclear engineering,
reactor manufacturing,
specialized steel,
precision components,
uranium processing and fuel production,
construction,
electrical equipment,
control systems,
turbines,
pumps,
and skilled trades.

A successful American SMR industry could therefore support much more than artificial intelligence.

It could become an important component of an American advanced-manufacturing revival.

We would not simply be building computer infrastructure.

We would be building the industrial infrastructure required to power it.

America’s Technological Leadership Is Also a National-Security Issue

Artificial intelligence will increasingly influence:

military technology,
cybersecurity,
intelligence analysis,
advanced manufacturing,
biotechnology,
robotics,
communications,
and scientific discovery.

America is not developing these technologies in isolation.  China and other nations are competing aggressively for leadership. The IEA projects that the United States and China together will account for nearly 80% of global data-center electricity-demand growth through 2030.

That tells us something profound. The geopolitical competition over artificial intelligence will not simply involve:

Who has the best programmers? Or Who makes the best computer chips?

It will also involve: Who can produce enough electricity?

Energy independence and technological independence are becoming increasingly connected.

We Cannot Build a 21st-Century Digital Economy on an Inadequate Grid

America’s electrical system was largely built for a different age.

We are now asking it to support:

AI data centers,
advanced manufacturing,
semiconductor fabrication,
electric transportation,
expanding cities,
and an increasingly electrified economy.

At some point, efficiency alone cannot solve the problem. We simply need:

More electricity.

That means generation.

Transmission.

Substations.

Transformers.

Natural gas infrastructure.

Nuclear facilities.

Renewable generation where practical.

Storage.

And a regulatory environment capable of approving necessary infrastructure without sacrificing legitimate safety standards.

The country that wants the world’s most advanced digital economy must also build one of the world’s most advanced energy systems.

But SMRs Are Not Yet a Magic Solution

There is reason for optimism, but we should avoid pretending that SMRs have already solved every problem.

Many commercial SMR designs remain under development.

The industry still must demonstrate:

competitive construction costs,
repeatable manufacturing,
regulatory efficiency,
secure fuel supplies,
safe operation,
waste management,
and the ability to deploy projects on schedule.

The IEA currently expects the first SMRs to begin making a meaningful contribution to data-center electricity supply around the beginning of the next decade rather than solving the immediate 2026–2030 electricity challenge.

That means America needs a two-track strategy:

Build the energy infrastructure we need now.

Develop the nuclear technology we will need for the decades ahead.

We should not wait until the electricity shortage becomes a crisis before beginning.

The Data Center May Become the Factory of the 21st Century

There was a time when economic power could be measured partly by:

steel mills,
automobile factories,
railroads,
oil refineries,
and manufacturing plants.

Those things still matter enormously. But we should add another strategic asset:

Computing capacity.

Computing capacity increasingly determines how quickly scientists can analyze information, how effectively companies can deploy artificial intelligence, how rapidly new products can be designed, and how successfully nations can compete technologically.

The data center is becoming one of the great industrial facilities of the 21st century.

And just as the factories of the Industrial Revolution required enormous amounts of energy, the computing infrastructure of the AI revolution will require enormous amounts of electricity.

The Nations That Control Energy Will Help Shape the AI Age

The artificial-intelligence revolution is often discussed as though it exists entirely inside computers. Reality is that it doesn’t.

Behind AI stands an enormous physical supply chain:

mines produce raw materials.

Factories manufacture chips.

Construction crews build data centers.

Fiber networks connect them.

Cooling systems remove their heat.

And power plants provide the electricity that makes everything work.

Remove electricity and the entire digital world stops.

That means America’s technological strategy must also become an energy strategy.

Build the Data Centers. Build the Power Plants.

America should welcome the investment flowing into artificial intelligence and advanced computing.

But every announcement of another enormous data center should prompt a second question:

Where will the electricity come from?

If we answer that question only after the data centers have been planned, we are already behind.

The better strategy is to develop computing and energy infrastructure together.

That means encouraging:

new generation,
modernized electrical grids,
advanced nuclear reactors,
domestic energy production,
American manufacturing,
and faster—but still rigorous—permitting.

Small modular nuclear reactors could become one of the most important pieces of that strategy.

America’s Next Great Infrastructure Challenge

Previous generations of Americans built:

canals,
railroads,
highways,
electrical grids,
telephone networks,
airports,
pipelines,
and the Internet.

Our generation may face another historic infrastructure challenge:

Building the physical foundation of the artificial-intelligence age.

That foundation will require semiconductor plants.

It will require fiber-optic networks.

It will require enormous data centers.

But above all:

It will require energy.

America cannot lead the world in artificial intelligence if we cannot reliably power the machines that make artificial intelligence possible.

Data centers may become the engines of our technological future.

Advanced Small Modular Nuclear Reactors could become an important part of the engines that power them.

The opportunity before America is therefore much bigger than simply building more server farms.

It is the opportunity to build an entirely new generation of American computing, energy, manufacturing, and scientific infrastructure.

If we get it right, the AI revolution and a nuclear-energy renaissance could reinforce one another—creating new industries, skilled jobs, scientific advances, stronger electrical infrastructure, and greater American technological independence.

The future may be digital.

But the digital future still runs on electricity.

And if America intends to lead that future, we need to start building the power to make it possible.