Small modular reactors (SMRs) could supply data centers with firm electricity in three main ways: by generating power for the wider grid, by colocating a reactor with a data-center campus, or through a dedicated supply arrangement where regulators and utilities permit it. Those are potential project structures, not evidence that a commercial fleet is already powering data centers. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says licensing, demonstration and deployment of new reactor designs will take years, with widespread commercial deployment more likely in the 2030s.
What an SMR would do for a data center
An SMR is a nuclear fission reactor designed to be smaller than a conventional large reactor and, in many proposals, to use modular components that can be manufactured or assembled in repeatable units. The reactor would produce heat, convert that heat into electricity and deliver the electricity either to the regional grid or directly to a major load.
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For a data center, the attraction is the possibility of steady generation over long periods. Server halls, cooling systems, networking equipment and security systems need electricity continuously, and interruptions can cause service outages, hardware damage or loss of computing work. Nuclear generation is commonly described as firm, meaning it is intended to be available regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. That does not make a data center immune to outages: reactors require maintenance and refueling, electrical equipment can fail, and every critical facility still needs backup systems and an operating plan.
The phrase “SMR” covers several technologies rather than one standardized machine. A project’s reactor size, fuel, coolant, licensing path, construction method and operating profile all affect whether it can serve a particular campus.
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Why data-center electricity demand is driving interest
The underlying demand is substantial, but forecasts should not be mistaken for measured consumption. DOE’s December 2024 summary of a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) 2024 report said U.S. data centers consumed 176 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023, about 4.4% of U.S. electricity use. The same report projected 325–580 TWh in 2028, equivalent to approximately 6.7%–12% of U.S. electricity.
DOE’s resource hub describes an LBNL 2025 update with a central estimate that data centers could account for 11.8% of U.S. electricity in 2030. Its scenarios range from 9.5% to 15.3%. This later estimate uses a different report and horizon from the 2024 figures, and DOE notes that it does not directly account for possible growth in grid or on-site energy supply.
| Figure | What it measures | Report and date | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 176 TWh | U.S. data-center electricity use in 2023 | LBNL 2024 report, summarized by DOE in 2024 | Observed year; about 4.4% of U.S. electricity |
| 325–580 TWh | Projected U.S. data-center electricity use in 2028 | LBNL 2024 report, summarized by DOE in 2024 | Forecast; approximately 6.7%–12% of U.S. electricity |
| 11.8% | Central projected share of U.S. electricity in 2030 | LBNL 2025 update, summarized by DOE resource hub | Forecast; scenarios range from 9.5% to 15.3% |
That growth creates a need for new generation, transmission capacity and local substations. An SMR is one possible supply option, alongside existing nuclear plants, gas generation, renewables paired with storage, hydroelectricity and efficiency measures. It is not a quick substitute for all of those resources.
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Three ways an SMR could connect to a data center
1. Grid-connected generation
In the conventional arrangement, the reactor supplies electricity to the grid and the data-center operator buys power through a utility contract, wholesale market arrangement or other procurement structure. The data center may receive electricity from the grid even when the reactor is offline, while the reactor’s output serves multiple customers.
This model uses established utility infrastructure but does not reserve every megawatt of reactor output for one campus. The operator must still secure transmission capacity, substations, contracts for firm service and backup generation. A power-purchase agreement or clean-energy accounting arrangement also does not by itself prove that electrons from a particular reactor are delivered continuously to a particular server hall.
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2. Colocation on one campus
A reactor and data center could be built at the same industrial site, reducing some transmission distance and potentially simplifying the physical connection between generation and load. The arrangement would need a clear boundary for ownership, safety responsibilities, security, metering and dispatch.
Colocation raises questions that do not arise in the same way for an ordinary utility customer: who pays for grid services, how the campus operates during reactor maintenance, how surplus electricity is exported, and what happens if the data center expands faster than the reactor. The utility and regulators would also need to decide how the site is classified and how other customers are protected from costs.
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A dedicated configuration would send reactor output directly to a data center, potentially with a grid connection used for imports, exports and emergency support. Whether this is legal and practical depends on jurisdiction, interconnection rules, nuclear licensing, electricity-market regulation and engineering studies.
DOE has identified unresolved policy and customer-cost concerns around behind-the-meter arrangements. If a campus uses fewer grid services, it may still rely on the grid for backup and balancing; regulators must determine how those services are paid for so that costs are not shifted unfairly to other customers.
Which reactor technologies are relevant?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s review of commercial SMR and microreactor designs under development as of February 2026 describes several families. The coolant and moderator determine how the reactor transfers heat and influence materials, safety systems, fuel requirements and the supporting industrial supply chain.
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| Design family | Typical characteristics | Data-center implications |
|---|---|---|
| Light-water reactor | Uses ordinary water as coolant and moderator; conceptually similar to conventional reactors at a smaller scale | May draw on more familiar nuclear practices, but still requires design-specific licensing, construction and operations |
| High-temperature gas reactor | Uses gas coolant and operates at high temperatures | Could provide electricity and potentially useful process heat; fuel and materials must match the design |
| Molten-salt reactor | Uses a liquid salt in the reactor system | Requires specialized chemistry, materials, fuel handling and regulatory evaluation |
| Sodium-cooled or other liquid-metal reactor | Uses liquid metal rather than water as coolant | Has different heat-transfer, safety, maintenance and supply-chain requirements from water reactors |
Some advanced concepts require high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). EIA defines HALEU as uranium enriched above the levels used in most current U.S. reactors and below 20% uranium-235. Fuel needs vary by design, so it is incorrect to assume that every SMR requires HALEU. A project that depends on HALEU must demonstrate a dependable supply, transport arrangements and an approved fuel form before it can claim a firm schedule.
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Can an SMR provide 24/7 data-center power?
Potentially, but “24/7” describes a service requirement rather than a guarantee from a reactor announcement. A nuclear unit can be scheduled to run for long periods, and planned refueling outages can be coordinated with the operator’s maintenance plan. New designs, however, have limited operating history compared with established reactors, and their actual availability will depend on commissioning, maintenance, fuel logistics, grid equipment and the specific site.
A resilient data center normally combines several layers: utility service, on-site generators or other backup sources, batteries and uninterruptible power supplies, redundant distribution paths, and tested procedures for transferring load. An SMR could become one layer in that architecture. It would not remove the need to plan for a reactor trip, a switchyard failure, a transmission outage or a scheduled outage.
What must happen before a reactor can power servers?
An announced reactor is not operating capacity. A project must pass a sequence of regulatory, engineering and financial gates:
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- Define the design and fuel. The developer must specify reactor technology, electrical output, fuel type, cooling systems, safety systems and waste-handling arrangements.
- Obtain regulatory approvals. Depending on the design and jurisdiction, this includes construction authorization and the approvals required to operate a nuclear facility. A construction permit does not equal an operating license.
- Select and characterize the site. The project must address seismic conditions, cooling resources, emergency planning, security, environmental review, transmission access and proximity to the proposed load.
- Arrange financing and contracts. Developers need capital for the first unit, suppliers, a utility or large customer, insurance and a plan for cost overruns or schedule changes.
- Build, test and commission the plant. Components must be manufactured, installed, inspected and tested before the unit can produce commercial electricity.
- Integrate the data center. Engineers must match reactor output to the campus load, design protection and controls, provide backup power, establish outage procedures and obtain interconnection approval.
- Plan fuel, spent fuel and decommissioning. The operator must show how fuel will be delivered and how spent fuel will be cooled, stored and managed over the plant’s life.
What is actually planned today?
TVA, Kairos Power and Google arrangement
The announced arrangement involving the Tennessee Valley Authority, Kairos Power and Google is a planned project, not proof of an operating SMR. The proposal centers on the Hermes 2 advanced reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with an expected start of operations in 2030 according to Associated Press reporting. The arrangement is intended to support Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.
That status is time-sensitive. The same reporting said Hermes 2 had received a construction permit but still needed additional regulatory steps, including an operating license. The 2030 date should therefore be treated as a target associated with a planned project, not an approved guaranteed delivery date.
DOE GAIN vouchers
In September 2024, DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program announced vouchers for technical work on microreactor designs and for identifying possible sites for nuclear-powered data centers. The vouchers provide access to national-laboratory capabilities; DOE said recipients do not receive direct financial awards. This is evidence of research and site-development activity, not of a commercial reactor supplying a data center.
Restarting an existing large reactor is different
DOE has also pointed to an agreement involving Microsoft and Constellation to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1 for data-center operations. That is a proposed restart of an existing large reactor. It should not be presented as an SMR deployment or used as evidence that a new modular design is already operating.
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| Decision area | Questions a data-center buyer should answer |
|---|---|
| Licensing and schedule | What approvals are complete? Is the date a construction target, an operating target or a contractual delivery date? What testing remains? |
| Electrical output | What is the net electric output after the plant’s own consumption, and how does it compare with the campus’s present and planned load? |
| First-project cost | What capital is required for the first unit, who bears construction risk, and what evidence supports the financing plan? DOE identifies high upfront cost as a barrier. |
| Fuel availability | Does the design need HALEU or another specialized fuel? Are enrichment, fabrication, transport and inventory arrangements secured? |
| Grid arrangement | Will the plant be grid-connected, colocated or behind the meter? Who pays for transmission, balancing, standby service and upgrades? |
| Outage coverage | How are refueling, maintenance and unexpected trips covered by batteries, generators, utility service or another reactor? |
| Waste and end of life | Where will spent fuel be stored, and what are the plans and financial provisions for decommissioning? |
| Expansion | Can additional modules be added as computing demand grows, and can the site obtain the required cooling, land and grid capacity? |
Modular factory construction is intended by developers to improve cost and schedule, but that benefit has not been proven for every design. The sources available for this topic do not provide comparable project-level cost estimates across reactor families. A low advertised generation cost, without a licensing stage, financing structure and delivery assumptions, is not a meaningful comparison.
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How to evaluate a proposed nuclear supply deal
Use the same evidence for every project rather than comparing a vendor forecast with a completed plant’s measured performance.
- Verify the milestone: distinguish a concept announcement, site-selection agreement, construction permit, operating license, first criticality and commercial operation.
- Check net output: use the plant’s expected net electrical output and the data center’s actual peak, average and future demand.
- Map the distance and wires: identify the switchyard, transmission path, interconnection queue and responsibility for upgrades.
- Read the contract: determine whether it guarantees physical delivery, financial settlement, renewable or nuclear attributes, or only a future option.
- Test outage assumptions: ask how the campus operates during refueling, maintenance, commissioning delays and an unplanned reactor shutdown.
- Trace the fuel: confirm the enrichment level, fuel form, supplier, delivery schedule and inventory policy.
- Account for the full lifecycle: include staffing, security, cooling, spent-fuel storage, decommissioning and regulatory costs.
- Check public-service effects: establish whether the arrangement pays fairly for grid standby and balancing services instead of shifting costs to other customers.
When could nuclear-powered data centers arrive?
Some projects could reach operation around the end of this decade if licensing, construction and financing proceed as planned. DOE’s broader assessment is more cautious: licensing, demonstration and deployment of next-generation reactors will take years, and widespread commercial availability is more likely in the 2030s.
The practical answer depends on what “nuclear-powered data center” means. A data center can contract for electricity from an existing nuclear plant sooner than a new SMR can be licensed and built. A new SMR colocated with a campus requires the entire nuclear project to clear its regulatory and construction schedule. A microreactor may fit a smaller or remote load, but its smaller output does not eliminate licensing, fuel, security or waste requirements.
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