Meta will finance Oklo's purchase of uranium for its reactors. It's a massive vote of confidence for both the startup and nuclear power, but challenges remain. There are two ways for tech companies to invest in nuclear power right now. One is to buy power from traditional reactors that are already built, either by purchasing electricity from the plants directly or financing the reconstruction of decommissioned units. The other is to invest in one of the dozens of reactor startups promising to commercialize designs and technologies never before used in the American market to generate electricity.

If a major disaster like Fukushima or Chernobyl ever happens again, the world would know almost straight away, thanks to an array of government and DIY radiation-monitoring programs running globally.

Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack on a nuclear plant that has caused a fire and damage to an auxiliary transformer as Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day for the 34th time. Sunday's attack forced a 50 percent reduction in the operating capacity at reactor number three at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), close to the border with Ukraine, according to Russian officials, who added that several power and energy facilities were targeted in the overnight strikes. The fire at the nuclear facility was quickly extinguished with no injuries reported, the plant's news service said on Telegram. Two other reactors are operating without power generation, and one is undergoing scheduled repairs, it said, adding that radiation levels were normal. Alexander Khinshtein, the Kursk region's acting governor, said Ukrainian attacks on the plant, 60km (38 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border, "are a threat to nuclear safety and a violation of all international conventions".

Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier delves into the demand for energy amid developing artificial intelligence technology on'Special Report.' There has been little change in U.S. energy consumption over the past decade. Increased efforts to make energy use more efficient have kept levels low. But over the next five years, demand for electricity to power data centers is expected to more than double. Some estimates show the facilities are expected to require as much energy in 2030 as the entire country of Japan does today.

Meta on Tuesday said it had struck an agreement to keep one nuclear reactor of a US utility company in Illinois operating for 20 years. Meta's deal with Constellation Energy is the social networking company's first with a nuclear power plant. Other large tech companies are looking to secure electricity as US power demand rises significantly in part due to the needs of artificial intelligence and datacenters. Google has reached agreements to supply its datacenters with nuclear power via a half-dozen small reactors built by a California utility company. Microsoft's similar contract will restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, the site of the most serious nuclear accident and radiation leak in US history.

This story was originally published on the author's substack, Field Notes with Alexander C Kaufman, to which you can subscribe here. Artificial intelligence is driving up demand for electricity--the only question is how much, and what provides the power. Over the next three years, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates, AI's thirst for power will double or triple. Last month, OpenAI unveiled its Stargate Project, a plan to invest 500 billion in the infrastructure for artificial intelligence over the next four years that includes adding 25 gigawatts of new electricity capacity. Right now, the most likely source of electricity to power those data centers is gas.

More than a decade after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, Japan is again turning to nuclear power as it struggles to reach its emissions targets and bolster its energy security. In a draft strategic energy plan due to be approved by the cabinet this month, the trade and industry ministry signalled it was ditching attempts to lessen Japan's reliance on nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster – the world's worst nuclear accident since Chornobyl 25 years earlier. The document dropped a reference to "reducing reliance" on nuclear energy that had appeared in the three previous plans, and instead called for a "maximisation" of nuclear power, which will account for about 20% of total energy output in 2040, based on the assumption that 30 reactors will be in full operation by then. The plan envisages a share of between 40% and 50% for renewable energy – compared with just under a third in 2023 – and a reduction in coal-fired power from the current 70% to 30-40%. The push to restart reactors idled since the plant was struck by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9.0

Planning inspectors recommended against a Hitachi-built nuclear power plant in Anglesey on the basis that it could dilute the island's Welsh language and culture, it has emerged. Hitachi scrapped plans to build a 20bn nuclear power plant at Wylfa in 2020 over cost concerns after failing to reach a funding agreement with UK ministers. Keir Starmer's government has vowed to make it easier to build major infrastructure projects by reforming the planning system and stopping campaigners from launching "excessive" legal challenges. The prime minister unveiled plans for a historic expansion in nuclear power this week, vowing to "push past nimbyism" and make sites across the country available for new power stations. Nuclear industry figures believe that the fate of Hitachi's proposed plant at Wylfa demonstrates the problems with the UK's planning system.

A defunct nuclear power plant will be revived to power Donald Trump's new half-trillion-dollar project to make America the world's artificial intelligence powerhouse. The state-owned utility Santee Cooper -- the largest power provider in South Carolina -- said Wednesday that it is seeking buyers to complete construction on a partially-built project that was abandoned in 2017. The VC Summer Nuclear Power Station, which houses two unfinished nuclear reactors, was scrapped following years of lengthy, costly delays and bankruptcy by its contractor, according to a company statement. But now, the utility is hoping tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft will be willing to finish the project, as they are seeking clean energy sources to fuel data centers for AI. 'We are seeing renewed interest in nuclear energy, fueled by advanced manufacturing investments, AI-driven data center demand, and the tech industry's zero-carbon targets,' said Santee Cooper President and CEO Jimmy Staton.

Since 2018, carbon emissions from data centers in the US have tripled, according to new research led by a team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. That puts data centers slightly below domestic commercial airlines as a source of this pollution. That leaves a big problem for the world's leading AI companies, which are caught between pressure to meet their own sustainability goals and the relentless competition in AI that's leading them to build bigger models requiring tons of energy. The trend toward ever more energy-intensive new AI models, including video generators like OpenAI's Sora, will only send those numbers higher. A growing coalition of companies is looking toward nuclear energy as a way to power artificial intelligence.