Oklo, NuScale surge as Google backs new small nuclear reactors to power AI

Advanced nuclear technology companies Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) and NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) rally sharply into Monday’s close, ending +9.7% and +5.9% respectively, after Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) said it signed the world’s first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors to meet electricity demand for artificial intelligence.

Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) said it will purchase power generated by seven reactors to be built by nuclear energy startup Kairos Power, targeting the addition of 500 MW of nuclear power starting at the end of the decade; financial terms were not disclosed.

Big tech companies are lining up power supplies for massive data centers needed to run AI systems, prompting utilities to build more natural gas-fired plants while also sparking interest in nuclear plants that deliver clean energy at all hours.

Earlier this year, Amazon bought a nuclear powered data center from Talen Energy, and Microsoft and Constellation Energy teamed up for a power deal that would help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuke plant in Pennsylvania.

Kairos will need to obtain full construction and design permitting from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as permits from local agencies, a process that can take years; the company has secured a construction permit from the NRC to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.