Google Announces Nuclear Power Plant Build in Tennessee
Search giant looks to power new data centers in the southeast.
WASHINGTON, August 19, 2025 – The land of the Great Smoky Mountains will soon support a new kind of infrastructure: a nuclear power plant powering Google’s data centers.
On Monday, Google and California-based nuclear energy firm Kairos Power announced a partnership to build an advanced small modular nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The plant is expected to power Google’s data centers in Tennessee and Alabama starting in 2030.
As energy demands surge in today’s AI-driven world, nuclear power plants and data centers have emerged as critical infrastructure for meeting this demand and advancing U.S. nuclear and energy capabilities.
Google’s electricity usage has more than doubled in the past few years, increasing from 12.8 terawatt hours in 2019 to 25.9 terawatt hours in 2023. For perspective, that's roughly half of New York City’s annual electricity consumption, which is 50 terawatt-hours.
To meet its growing energy needs while maintaining its commitment to carbon-free power, Google struck a deal last year to source electricity from several small modular reactors.
The Oak Ridge project is the first initiative under the agreement.
The deal will support 500 megawatts of advanced nuclear capacity – enough to power nearly 350,000 homes – and will be supplied by Kairos Power.
“This collaboration with TVA, Kairos Power, and the Oak Ridge community will accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies and help support the needs of our growing digital economy while also bringing firm carbon-free energy to the electricity system,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data center energy.
The proposed Oak Ridge facility is designed to deliver up to 50 gigawatts of power.
“The deployment of advanced nuclear reactors is essential to U.S. AI dominance and energy leadership,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. “The Department of Energy has assisted Kairos Power with overcoming technical, operational, and regulatory challenges as a participant in the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, and DOE will continue to help accelerate the next American nuclear renaissance.”
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