Britain needs to invest in a new generation of nuclear power stations if it wants to play a key role in the AI revolution, a think tank warns today.
The new technology requires massive amounts of ‘clean’ power that cannot be provided by wind, solar and other forms of renewables in large enough quantities, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change claims.
In a new report it says the UK needs to keep up with the likes of the United States, South Korea, Canada, France and Japan, which have all committed to new nuclear programmes.
In addition, Microsoft in September revealed it was reopening a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst US nuclear accident, in order to power a data centre.
In the report, Revitalising Nuclear: The UK Can Power AI and Lead the Clean Energy Transition’, the think tank argues that the west over-reacted to the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
It argues that energy-related CO2 emissions would have been 6 per cent lower last year – equivalent to 450 million fewer passenger vehicles – ‘if the world had not turned away from nuclear’.
Report lead author Tone Langengen said: ‘A new nuclear age is beginning. But whether it continues will depend entirely on whether leaders are willing to move past false alarm and ideology, making judgement based upon fact-based assessment of risk.
‘Only then will they harness the power of nuclear quickly and at low cost. To achieve this, the world must learn the lessons from the history of nuclear energy.
The new technology requires massive amounts of ‘clean’ power that cannot be provided by wind, solar and other forms of renewables in large enough quantities, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change claims.
Microsoft in September revealed it was reopening a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst US nuclear accident, in order to power a data centre.
‘Whether it is the new nuclear renaissance or other technologies that will help fight climate change, the world cannot afford to let unfounded public concern stand in the way of progress.
‘In the UK this means reforming the regulatory system so we can harness inward investment from AI companies and deeper our relationship with the US.’
The TBI set out a series of recommendations, which include new ‘AI growth zones’ around the country, with simplified planning and environmental permitting for new nuclear power associated with them.
There should also be faster approval for off-the-shelf reactor designs from trusted foreign allies.
Three Mile Island is all set to become functional again by 2028 as a part of a 20-year agreement, Constellation Energy announced in September.
As per the agreement, Unit 1 of the plant, which ‘operated at industry-leading levels of safety and reliability for decades before being shut down for economic reasons exactly five years ago,’ will be the section of the reactor that will be turned on again after being shut down in 2019.
Google is turning to nuclear reactors to fuel the energy demands of its AI technology, such as its Gemini chatbot and Pixel AI phone software
The move is designed to help Microsoft meet its commitment to be ‘carbon negative’ by 2030.
Fellow tech giant Google revealed in October that it had signed a deal with California-based nuclear firm Kairos Power to build new nuclear reactors to supply its US data centres with energy.
Although the location of these reactors is yet to be revealed, Google said the first will be operational in 2030, with more to follow by 2035.
Google’s data centres are designed to cope with the enormous power, storage and cooling requirements of its AI technology, such as its Gemini chatbot and Pixel AI phone software, as well as cloud storage.
But AI – which uses a lot of computing power and in turn electricity 24/7 – is especially pushing up the firm’s energy use and is making cutting emissions ‘challenging’, the company said.
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