Meta Platforms Inc has cut a 20-year deal to secure nuclear power to help meet surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and other computing needs at Facebook’s parent company.
The investment with Meta would also expand the output of a Constellation Energy Corp nuclear plant in Illinois.
The agreement announced on Tuesday is just the latest in a string of tech-nuclear partnerships as the use of AI expands. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Photo: AFP
“Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions,” Meta head of global energy Urvi Parekh said.
Surging investments in small nuclear reactors come at a time when large tech companies are facing two major demands — a need to increase their energy supply for AI and data centers, among other needs, while also trying to meet their long-term goals to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Constellation, the owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, in September last year said that it planned to restart the reactor so tech giant Microsoft Corp could secure power to supply its data centers.
Three Mile Island, located on the Susquehanna River just outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident in 1979.
Amazon.com Inc last year said that it was investing in small nuclear reactors, two days after a similar announcement by Alphabet Inc’s Google. Additionally, Google announced last month that it was investing in three advanced nuclear energy projects with Elementl Power Inc.
US states have been positioning themselves to meet the tech industry’s power needs as policymakers consider expanding subsidies and gutting regulatory obstacles.
Last year, 25 states passed legislation to support advanced nuclear energy, and lawmakers this year have introduced more than 200 bills supportive of nuclear energy, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute trade association.
However, it is unlikely that the US could quadruple its nuclear production in the next 25 years, as the White House wants. The US lacks any next-generation reactors operating commercially and only two new large reactors have been built from scratch in nearly 50 years. Those two reactors, at a nuclear plant in Georgia, were completed years late and at least US$17 billion over budget.
Amazon, Google and Microsoft have also been investing in solar and wind technologies, which make electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions.
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS