Google to bring shuttered nuclear power plant back from the dead

Google announced this week it is moving with NextEra Energy to revive a atomic powerfulness works successful Iowa that had closed successful 2020.

NextEra has been looking for a spouse to reopen the reactor for the past year, and it recovered 1 successful Google, which has been steadily adding zero-carbon vigor sources to powerfulness its increasing information halfway fleet.

Neither institution disclosed fiscal presumption of the deal.

The Duane Arnold Energy Center was shuttered aft a summertime derecho (major rainfall storm) damaged a portion of the secondary containment strategy that would forestall the merchandise of radioactive gases.

The powerfulness works was primitively designed to make 601 megawatts of electricity, and if the recommissioning goes arsenic planned, the renovated reactor volition beryllium susceptible of cranking retired an further 14 megawatts.

NextEra is hoping to restart the installation successful 2029, and Google has agreed to bargain a bulk of its powerfulness for 25 years. The remainder volition beryllium sold to the Central Iowa Power Cooperative connected akin terms. The enactment presently holds a 20% involvement successful the Duane Arnold powerfulness plant, though NextEra said it has agreements to bargain retired some the co-op and the different number owner.

Nuclear powerfulness has been experiencing a revival arsenic tech companies and information halfway developers person been searching for caller sources of powerfulness arsenic request for energy has awakened aft a decade-plus slumber.

The Iowa reactor isn’t the archetypal to beryllium brought backmost from the dead. Last year, Microsoft said it would enactment with Constellation Energy to restart a reactor astatine Three Mile Island that was unopen down successful 2019. Constellation said it expects the effort to outgo $1.6 billion. If each goes arsenic planned, the 835-megawatt reactor should travel online successful 2028.

Restarting reactors is considered a shortcut to bringing caller atomic capableness to the grid, apt shaving years disconnected the clip it would instrumentality to physique a caller powerfulness plant. But they’re inactive years-long projects, locking them successful contention with caller earthy state powerfulness plants, which besides instrumentality years to develop.

In the meantime, companies similar Google are besides turning to solar and batteries, which tin beryllium deployed successful months alternatively than years, dramatically reducing the clip it takes to powerfulness a caller information center.