Nuclear Energy Could Power 10% of Hyperscale Data Center Demand, Says Deloitte

Nuclear energy could supply up to 10% of the energy demand that U.S. data centers will require by 2035, suggests a recent report by Deloitte Research Center for Energy & Industrials.

The report shows energy usage from U.S. data centers could increase fivefold by 2035 and reach 176 gigawatts (GW). The average data center consumes approximately 41 GW of electricity.

As the public speaks out, sustainability is becoming a pressing issue for IT leaders. One of the biggest challenges is how to scale without adding pressure on an already fragile infrastructure.

While renewable resources, such as wind and solar, can play a role, they alone may be unable to meet the needs of growing tech sectors.

This is where Deloitte suggests that nuclear energy could fill that gap.

If appropriately scaled, Deloitte predicts nuclear resources could meet up to 10% of the projected demand growth over the next decade.

But that’s a big “if.”

A major expansion of the U.S.’s nuclear infrastructure would have to take place, adding somewhere between 35 GW and 62 GW of new capacity, which could be challenging with recent tariffs in place.

Capacity refers to how much electricity the nuclear energy system can generate at once. The U.S. has a nuclear electricity generation capacity of about 95 GW, spread across 28 states.

Nuclear energy also currently contributes about 19 to 20% of the total annual electricity generation in the U.S.

Suggesting nuclear energy as a solution may appear unconventional, but Deloitte points to its pros:

• Reliability: Nuclear plants provide round-the-clock baseload power with a capacity factor of about 92.5%, which is higher than natural gas or renewable resources.
• Scalability: A single nuclear reactor can produce more than 800 megawatts (MW) of electricity. AI-centric data centers typically require at least 100 MW of power.
• Energy Density: Even small amounts of nuclear fuel can produce exponential outputs.
• Low Emissions: Nuclear power generates virtually zero greenhouse gases.
• Land Use: Nuclear plants have a smaller physical footprint compared to solar or wind power plants.

Still, the report didn’t shy away from addressing the types of challenges investors and stakeholders would have to consider.

For one, nuclear projects have a track record of long build timelines and significant cost overruns. One expansion ran six years behind schedule and more than doubled its budget.

Another issue is that nobody has mastered the safe disposal of high-level nuclear waste. Because of its radioactivity, it must be stored securely for thousands of years.

Most spent nuclear fuel is stored in temporary reactor sites, but those only have lifespans of a few decades. Without a permanent solution, the U.S. will be forced to watch stockpiles grow.

It is, yet again, a question of evaluation: Which issue should we pay attention to first?