Best of POWER

Welcome to the end of September issue of the Best of POWER, a bi-monthly e-newsletter from POWER magazine that provides important news and information that many in our audience have found to be must-reads.

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Google Could Use Small Nuclear Reactors to Power Data Centers | Google’s top executive confirmed the company is working on large-scale data centers that would use more than 1 GW of power. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, in a speech last week at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) could possibly be used to generate the needed electricity.

ACU Secures NRC Permit to Build Research Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor | The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted Abilene Christian University (ACU) a construction permit to build its Molten Salt Research Reactor (MSRR) facility on the university’s campus in Texas. The approval is the regulatory body’s first for a liquid-fueled advanced reactor, the first for a research reactor in decades, and its second for any advanced reactor.

Microsoft Would Restart Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant to Power AI | Microsoft has announced a deal to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. It’s the latest move by a technology company to use nuclear power to provide electricity for energy-intensive data centers and support the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

U.S. in a Race with China to Develop Commercial Fusion Power Technology | Fusion energy is a promising form of power generation that aims to harness the same process that powers the sun and stars. Fusion involves combining two light atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This is the opposite of nuclear fission, which splits heavy atoms apart.

How Pennsylvania Is Fostering A Nuclear Renaissance in the Making | Pennsylvania has been a hotspot for nuclear power since the advent of commercial nuclear power, which it pioneered with first power from the 60-MW Shippingport Atomic Power Station near Pittsburgh in 1957.

In Case You Missed It: Fuel Cells: What They Are, How They Work, and Why They’re Important | Fuel cells are not some novel new technology. In fact, most history books credit the invention of the fuel cell to Welsh chemist and physicist William Grove, who, in the late 1830s and early 1840s, conducted experiments proving that electric current could be produced from an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen over a platinum catalyst.

UK SMR Competition Narrows Contenders to Four Nuclear Designs | The UK government has narrowed its shortlist of technologies competing in its flagship Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition to four candidates. On Sept. 25, it announced that Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Holtec Britain, and Rolls-Royce SMR remain in the running to negotiate potentially multi-billion-pound nuclear technology development contracts under the fast-track initiative aimed at delivering an operational SMR by the mid-2030s.

Project Pele, DOD’s HTGR Mobile Nuclear Microreactor, Breaks Ground | Groundbreaking has kicked off at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where Project Pele—the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) full-scale transportable microreactor prototype—will be placed for testing in 2026. When operational, the reactor will become the “first-ever Generation IV nuclear reactor to generate electricity in the U.S.,” the DOD said on Sept. 24.

$2.33 Billion Solar-Plus-Storage Project Set in Nevada | A solar-plus-storage project valued at more than $2.33 billion is preparing for construction after receiving a Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

Impact of the IRA on U.S. Renewable Energy Manufacturing and Supply Chains | The Inflation Reduction Act ?was designed to enhance domestic manufacturing and secure domestic supply chains. The act, signed by President Biden in 2022, was sponsored by Sens. Chuck Shumer (D-NY) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), with the legislation also drawing from House Bill HR5376 sponsored by Rep. John A. Yarmuth (D-KY 3).