The Northwest Could Power America’s AI Revolution — If We Go Nuclear

Keeping the lights on in America is already a challenge with an aging energy infrastructure, and advancements in technology like Artificial Intelligence will need a stable power source to perform.

An analysis completed for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association by PA Consulting anticipates a 300% growth in data center energy consumption over the next 10 years. These centers are largely being built for the computational needs of Artificial Intelligence. These data centers have been proposed in states across the nation, including in our region. One consideration, however, is what is going to power them, and the overall expected increase in energy grid demand in America’s future.

As noted by the Trump administration’s America’s AI Action Plan:

“The United States must develop a comprehensive strategy to enhance and expand the power grid designed not just to weather these challenges, but to ensure the grid’s continued strength and capacity for future growth.”

Some suggest that renewable power sources like wind and solar should fill the energy needs of the future. But solar and wind provide intermittent and unreliable power. As great as the intent is, they don’t provide baseload energy and don’t hold up well under extreme weather events. There are numerous cases of grid outages barely holding on due to storms disrupting wind and solar. As we know, the wind isn’t always blowing, and the sun isn’t always shining.

A reliable power solution instead will be nuclear energy. Nuclear is currently in 30 countries, with many others currently considering it. Nuclear powers roughly 19% of America’s grid today. Nuclear power has made so many leaps and bounds in the last 20 years of development that it’s almost unrecognizable. Specifically, consider the development of small modular reactors or SMR.

The cost of traditional nuclear power has historically been expensive. But these smaller SMRs could be more cost-effective. A traditional operation needs to be completely built on-site. These new SMRs can be created off-site and delivered on-site to be assembled, which takes far less time and is more efficient. Fuel needs can also pile on the costs, and SMRs have developed in regard to their needs. It’s estimated that they need to be refueled every three to seven years, compared to a traditional plant that needs refueling every year or two. These fine details in nuclear innovation prove its ability to adapt.

Permitting reforms are needed to streamline the advancement of nuclear energy. Responding to the need for regulatory reform, the Trump administration has made multiple moves to enhance and supplement the work of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the leading lab in the nation for nuclear developments. INL Director John Wagner commented in his presentation last year to the Idaho Legislature’s Interim Committee on Federalism:

“I have been a nuclear engineer for over 30 years now, and during the majority of my career, we’ve been shutting down perfectly good operational nuclear power plants for economic reasons… I can’t even … emphasize properly how significantly different this is than any other action by an administration on nuclear energy in my lifetime.”

INL has also been working with Amazon in deploying AI in an efficient manner to develop nuclear facilities. Amazon Web Services will specifically use AI to help in the use of “designing, licensing, building and operating nuclear facilities.” INL also added that eventually AI could be employed for “autonomous operation” of reactors.

The Northwest Energy Coalition also recently addressed the Energy and Technology Interim Committee of the Montana Legislature in the midst of plans to add multiple data centers. It said:

“Adding this amount of electric demand in Montana will require massive changes to our energy supply and transmission system. We must consider all the implications for regulated utilities, customer-owned utilities, large commercial, industrial, and residential electric customers in Montana.”

Showing the need for regional cooperation, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming last year signed an agreement acknowledging their commitment to collaborate to develop nuclear infrastructure and energy policies.

U.S. energy demand is expected to rise by about 3.5% each year through 2040. There is already severe stress on our aging energy infrastructure, even before accounting for the power-hungry needs of new technologies.

According to McKinsey’s GEP power model and many U.S. grid operators, the country could experience shortages of dispatchable power during peak summer demand hours by 2030. Policymakers need to address this issue now, as energy infrastructure takes time and planning to build. We don’t want to reach 2040 and be scrambling for energy solutions.

Nuclear energy could help meet these power needs, and our region is well-positioned to take the lead. Policymakers should facilitate this opportunity by refining the energy regulatory and permitting system and attracting nuclear investors to help make this dependable and stable power development for our country a reality.