Alphabet aims to slash cost of new nuclear with small reactor deployments, CIO says

HOUSTON — Alphabet is aiming to slash the cost of building new nuclear reactors by deploying a series of small reactors through its deal with developer Kairos Power, the tech company's Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat said on Monday.

"Nuclear has to be a part of the mix given the qualities of it," Porat said at the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference. The tech sector has made major investments in nuclear projects over the past year to meet rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence with reliable, carbon-free energy.

But new nuclear projects in the U.S. have been plagued by cost overruns and long delays. It is imperative that the public and private sectors move "as soon as possible" to build a series of new plants that replicate the construction process to drive down the cost curve, Porat said.

Alphabet's Google unit struck a deal last October to buy power from small modular reactors under development by Kairos Power. These smaller nuclear reactors are next-generation technology that the industry hopes will reduce costs and accelerate deployment timelines through manufacturing efficiencies. Google and Kairos aim to bring the first plant online by 2030 with more reactors starting up through 2035.

"If we don't start now in a focused way and replicate a number of them, which is why the Kairos multi tranche is an important kind of proof point, we're not going to be able to drive down the cost curve," Porat said.

Nuclear, however, is unlikely to become a power solution until the 2035 or later, said NextEra CEO John Ketchum said. NextEra is the largest developer of renewables in the U.S., though the company also operates the largest gas-fired generation facility in the nation as well nuclear plants.

Ketchum said renewables are the quickest and cheapest solution available to meet rising energy demand, as the cost of new natural gas turbines has tripled and the queue to build them now stretches to 2030 or later.

"Renewables are ready to go right now because they've been up and running," Ketchum said at the conference. "It's cheaper and it's available right now unless you already have a turbine on order or that's already been permitted."

Ketchum's comments come after Energy Secretary Chris Wright said earlier Monday that renewables cannot replace the role of natural gas in producing electricity, vowing to end the Biden administration's climate policies. The Trump administration is working to launch a new era of nuclear construction, Wright said.

NextEra is projecting a sixfold increase in power demand over the next 20 years compared with the previous 20 years, Ketchum said. About 17% of that growth will come from data centers, the CEO said. The U.S. has installed 175 gigawatts of renewables over the past five years, compared to 13 gigawatts of gas and about three gigawatts nuclear, Ketchum said.

NextEra is evaluating whether the company can bring the shuttered Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa back online, Ketchum said. Duane Arnold is the third potential nuclear restart in the U.S., with the Palisades plant in Michigan aiming to return to power this year and Three Mile Island Unit 1 in 2028 subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In terms of small modular reactors, there is a "tremendous opportunity to co-locate" these reactors "at all of our existing sites," Ketchum said. "But the industry needs to sort through which companies have the right technology," he said.

There are around 95 companies involved in the small modular reactor space right now. "That's really got to be scaled down to five or 10," Ketchum said.