LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #789, Wednesday, (10/23/2024)
LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #789, Wednesday, (10/23/2024)
"End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
In this aerial view, the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant stands in the middle of the Susquehanna River near Middletown, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 10, 2024. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Wednesday, (10/23/2024)
They’re calling it the “AI Revolution”. Does that mean the same thing as the usual definition of ‘Revolution’? Coupled with “an ever increasing amount of energy?”
If so, we should be rebelling immediately, fighting desperately against AI, as well as the other “All Things Nuclear”, just as the repressed are known to do in any revolution. This whole AI concept, tied at the hip now to nuclear power, cannot be something that humanity should want to have any part of!
The last few days of taking a harder look at ‘AI’ are telling me I may be needing an accommodating like-minded sponsor or two and/or subscribers. But either way, you can rest assured that I will soon be adding an 8th media Category to “LLAW’s All Things Nuclear’s ”TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS” tentatively called “Artificial Intelligence”. ~llaw
Big Tech is driving a nuclear power revival, energy guru Dan Yergin says
Published Wed, Oct 23 20247:58 AM EDT
Key Points
Nuclear power appears to be making a comeback in the U.S. after years of setbacks — and big tech is the driving force.
As tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google compete to take the lead in the AI revolution, the data centers needed to power the burgeoning technology consume an ever-increasing amount of energy.
Long-time energy market veteran Dan Yergin described the turnaround as nothing short of extraordinary.
In this aerial view, the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant stands in the middle of the Susquehanna River near Middletown, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 10, 2024.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Nuclear power may be making a comeback in the U.S. after years of setbacks — and big tech is the driving force.
As tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google compete to take the lead in the AI revolution, the data centers needed to power the burgeoning technology consume an ever-increasing amount of energy.
In the last two months, those three companies have penned deals to generate more nuclear power — perhaps most notably, Microsoft struck a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the most serious nuclear meltdown in U.S. history in 1979. The reopening is planned for 2028.
Speaking to CNBC at the annual International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, long-time energy market veteran Dan Yergin described the turnaround as nothing short of extraordinary.
“It’s amazing, the change. The nuclear industry was in the doldrums,” Yergin told CNBC’s Karen Tso on Tuesday, describing the reopening of the Three Mile Island power plant as “symbolic.”
“Big Tech is saying, ‘We need reliable 24 hour electricity. We can’t get it just from wind and solar’,” he said.
Yergin, who has written several books on energy including “The Prize” and “The New Map,” pointed to the booming funding going into the sector. He cited $7 billion in venture capital going into nuclear fusion alone — which does not include financing for nuclear fission, a different energy-generating process.
“This is a really big change, and it reflects in this country, in the United States, a sense that — we’ve had for, really, a generation of flat demand [for] electricity,” Yergin said. “Now it’s going to grow, and there’s real anxiety about, how do you grow it? And nuclear [energy] is back in form, and people are talking about small nuclear reactors. And, of course, you have big tech actually seeking to contract for the output of the electricity from existing nuclear power plants. It’s an amazing change.”
watch now
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The energy markets are ‘schizophrenic’ right now: S&P Global vice chairman
Electricity demand is surging after staying largely flat for some 15 years, fueled by new data centers, factories, electric vehicles, and hotter and longer summers. A recent Energy Department memo cited in numerous press reports projected that U.S. power grids could see as much as 25 gigawatts of new data center demand by 2030.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had closed a $1.5 billion loan for the revival of the Holtec Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan in late 2025, which would make it the first American nuclear plant to be restarted. Google in mid-October said it would purchase power from Kairos Power, a developer of small modular reactors, to help “deliver on the progress of AI.”
Global electricity consumption from data centers, artificial intelligence and the cryptocurrency sector is expected to double from an estimated 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2022 to more than 1,000 TWh in 2026, according to a research report from the International Energy Agency.
— CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA”:
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Wednesday, (10/23/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Daily on Energy: A lot of nuclear news, DOE looks to boost battery manufacturing, and a ...
Washington Examiner
In today's edition of Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen take a look at all things nuclear and include a breakdown of all the recent deals backing ...
As the Israel-Hamas war escalates, Israel refuses to acknowledge its nuclear program - NPR
NPR
All Things Considered · Fresh Air · Up First. Featured. The NPR Politics ... NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Victor Gilinsky, a former commissioner of ...
As the Israel-Hamas war escalates, Israel refuses to acknowledge its nuclear program
WBAA
Michel Martin is the weekend host of All Things Considered, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig in to the week's ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Big Tech is driving a nuclear power revival, energy guru Dan Yergin says - CNBC
CNBC
... nuclear reactors. And, of course, you have big tech actually seeking to contract for the output of the electricity from existing nuclear power plants.
Energy Secretary talks Big Tech's nuclear energy push - YouTube
YouTube
Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG, GOOGL), and Amazon (AMZN) have recently been at the forefront of deals involving Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for ...
US Energy Secretary talks Big Tech's clean nuclear energy push - Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm joins Market Domination to discuss this energy transition and its implications. Granholm explains that AI ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
La Salle And Grundy County Officials Ready For Nuclear Plant Emergency Response Test
Starved Rock Media
... nuclear power plant emergency. Every two years, first responders and units of government surrounding the La Salle Nuclear Power Station near ...
In one of the regions, electricity outage schedules have been introduced - 112
112
... emergency situations at power plants or equipment overload. It is ... On October 9, the NNEGC "Energoatom" completed the repair of a nuclear ...
Nuclear War
NEWS
If a China and America war went nuclear, who would win? | Mint
Mint
In the exercise scenario, it is 2032 and a war over Taiwan has been raging for 45 days. China uses “theatre" nuclear weapons—with a shorter range and ...
The Potential for Russia to Supercharge North Korea's Nuclear and Missile Program
The Heritage Foundation
Introduction Over the past two and a half years, the Russian–North Korean relationship has changed fundamentally. Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un ...
As the Israel-Hamas war escalates, Israel refuses to acknowledge its nuclear program
WWNO
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Victor Gilinsky, a former commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, about Israel's nuclear capabilities.
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Is the nuclear threat higher in 2024 than during the Cold War? - Meta-Defense.fr
Meta-Defense.fr
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the nuclear threat has been regularly brandished by Moscow. These repeated threats from Moscow are ...
Kim Jong Un Issues Nuclear Warning To US as North Korea Grows Arsenal - Newsweek
Newsweek
North Korean leader has called America's nuclear weapons an "ever-increasing threat."
North Korea's Kim Jong Un visits missile bases, slams US nuclear means - Reuters
Reuters
The U.S. strategic nuclear means pose an "ever-increasing threat" to North Korea's security environment and long-term threats demand Pyongyang's " .