Amazon reveals what one of the US' first modular nuclear reactors will look like

Amazon, a tech giant, is investing in nuclear power to meet the massive energy demands of its AI and cloud services. The company has signed agreements to help build nuclear energy projects and has revealed plans for an upcoming small modular reactor (SMR) in Richland, Washington. The SMR, developed in collaboration with Energy Northwest and X-energy, will have a smaller footprint than traditional nuclear reactors but still offer a modular design capable of producing up to 960 megawatts of power. Amazon is planning to help develop four SMRs in the first phase of the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, which will provide an initial power capacity of 320 megawatts, with the option to expand to 12 units for maximum energy output. Construction on the project is expected to begin before the end of the decade, and operations are anticipated to start in the 2030s. Amazon is not the only tech company exploring nuclear energy to power its AI operations, as Google and Meta have also made similar moves in the past year.