For a data center seeking nuclear power sooner, buying from an operating plant—or considering a restart—has a more established generation path than waiting for a new small modular reactor (SMR). That does not make existing-plant power automatically available, or a restart quick. SMRs may offer smaller units and siting flexibility, but licensing, financing, construction, fuel supply and delivery schedules remain significant uncertainties. The right choice depends on the site, grid connection, contract and required in-service date.
What is being compared?
“Nuclear power for a data center” can mean buying electricity under a power-purchase agreement (PPA), contracting for capacity, connecting a facility directly to a power plant, or developing a new reactor project. These are different arrangements. A PPA does not by itself require the data center and plant to be co-located, nor does it mean the plant generates electricity at the same moment the data center consumes it.
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Likewise, contracted capacity is not the same as annual energy delivered or consumed. The contract, the grid arrangements and applicable regulatory decisions determine what the data center receives and who pays for transmission and other system costs.
How do the options compare?
| Decision factor | Existing plant or restart | Small modular reactor |
|---|---|---|
| Generation readiness | Operating plants already generate electricity. Restarting a retired unit still requires investment, licensing and approvals. | Multiple designs are in development; a proposed unit is not the same as commercially available supply. |
| Typical unit size | 550–1,500 MW per unit, the typical range for large-scale nuclear designs described by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in 2026. | About 300 MW per unit or less, as described by EIA in 2026. |
| Delivery path | A PPA, capacity agreement or possible co-location with an existing plant; contract and grid arrangements define the supply. | A new project must complete licensing, construction, commissioning and fuel arrangements. |
| Potential siting considerations | Existing sites have a history of grid and industrial use, but available plant capacity and transmission access must be assessed for the specific project. | Smaller units and factory assembly may allow a broader range of sites, but site suitability, cooling, security, licensing and grid connection still matter. |
| Cost and schedule | Buying from an operating facility avoids constructing a wholly new reactor, but remaining plant life, contract terms and transmission matter. A restart can require substantial investment. | Factory production and modular construction may improve cost or schedule at scale; first deployments can be expensive. No universal cost or schedule advantage is established. |
| Fuel and waste | Commercial plants commonly use low-enriched uranium. Spent fuel still requires storage and a disposal pathway. | Fuel needs vary by design; some advanced designs require high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) or other supply arrangements. Waste management remains relevant. |
What evidence shows about buying from existing plants
Operating-plant agreements are already part of data-center procurement
EIA reported in 2024 that AWS contracted for 960 MW of capacity from Talen’s Susquehanna plant. The figure is contracted capacity, not a measure of the data center’s annual electricity consumption. EIA also reported a 20-year PPA between Constellation and Microsoft tied to a planned restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1. These examples show that existing plants can be part of data-center power strategies; they do not establish that the same terms or supply are available at another site.
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A restart has a schedule and investment risk of its own
In its 2024 report, EIA said restarting Three Mile Island Unit 1 would require major investment and approvals, with a target of sometime in 2028 at that time. That was a publication-time target, not confirmation of the unit’s present status or a general restart timeline. A buyer evaluating a restart should verify current project milestones, licensing, financing and the proposed commercial delivery date directly.
Existing sites may offer expansion opportunities, not ready-made projects
A September 9, 2024 preliminary U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) analysis identified 41 operating or recently retired nuclear plant sites with room to host reactors. DOE estimated those sites could accommodate more than 60 GW of additional capacity using large light-water reactors, or 95 GW using smaller 600-MWe advanced reactors. These are site-screening estimates—not approved, financed or construction-ready projects.
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DOE also reported in a 2026 update a plan for six uprates at Hatch, Vogtle and Farley that would add 345 MW of combined planned baseload capacity. This is a specific reported plan, not a general amount of capacity available from existing plants.
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Smaller units and factory assembly may create flexibility
EIA’s 2026 description puts SMRs at about 300 MW per unit or less, compared with 550–1,500 MW for typical large-scale nuclear designs. SMR components are designed for factory assembly and shipment to a site. DOE describes potential advantages that include modular construction, incremental capacity additions and a broader range of possible sites.
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Those are design and deployment goals, not a guarantee that a particular project will be faster or cheaper. DOE cautions that initial deployments can be expensive and that licensing, demonstration and deployment take years. A data-center buyer should treat a proposed SMR’s commercial operation date as a project milestone to validate, not as available supply.
Fuel availability depends on the design
SMRs are not a single reactor or fuel type. Some advanced designs require HALEU, while others have different fuel arrangements. The project’s fuel source, delivery timing and spent-fuel management therefore belong in the procurement and diligence plan alongside licensing and construction.
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How grid connection changes the decision
A PPA can support a data center’s electricity procurement without putting the facility beside the plant. Co-location or a behind-the-meter configuration is a different choice: it can change the need for transmission, but also raises questions about metering, cost allocation and effects on the wider grid and utility customers. A direct connection does not automatically resolve who bears system costs or what approvals are required.
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SMR co-location may reduce transmission needs in some project designs, but neither grid independence nor a benefit to other ratepayers follows from reactor size alone. The result depends on project design, grid rules and regulatory approval. Compare proposals using the actual point of interconnection, transmission arrangements, backup supply, metering and cost-allocation terms—not just the reactor’s nameplate capacity.
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How to evaluate a project for a specific data center
- Set the required delivery date and load. Identify when the facility needs power, how much capacity it requires, and how consumption changes over time. Distinguish a capacity commitment from expected annual electricity delivery.
- Define the supply arrangement. Establish whether the proposal is a PPA, capacity agreement, direct connection or behind-the-meter project. Ask what is guaranteed, when delivery begins and what happens if the plant or project is delayed.
- Verify project status. For an operating plant, confirm available capacity, contractability and remaining plant life. For a restart or SMR, assess current approvals, financing, construction and commissioning milestones rather than relying on an announced target date.
- Check site and grid feasibility. Confirm connection capacity, transmission needs, cooling, security and applicable approvals. For co-location, identify how metering and system costs would be allocated.
- Assess fuel and waste arrangements. Confirm the design-specific fuel plan, delivery timing and spent-fuel management pathway.
- Compare commercial exposure on a like-for-like basis. Evaluate contract duration, price structure, delivery obligations and delay or shortfall remedies for the same site and load. The cited sources do not establish a like-for-like cost model or guaranteed delivery schedule for an SMR versus an existing-plant PPA.
What the evidence supports
Existing operating plants offer the more established generation path for nearer-term procurement, while restarts remain dependent on project-specific investment and approvals. SMRs may add unit-size and siting flexibility, but the evidence does not establish that they are categorically faster or cheaper. As DOE Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dr. Mike Goff said in the agency’s September 9, 2024 announcement: “It is becoming increasingly important for the United States to deliver clean, firm electricity on a gigawatt-scale to meet growing energy demand.” That statement addresses U.S. electricity demand and system scale; it is not a finding about project cost or delivery schedules.
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