Nuclear Developer Proposes Using Navy Reactors for Data Centers

Repurposing military reactors for such civilian use, however, is unchartered territory

Bloomberg News

naval aircraft 1200x810 — Naval aircraft carriers or submarines are each equipped with two reactors: A4W units made by Westinghouse Electric Co. or S8G-class units made by General Electric. Photo by Wikimedia Commons/Postmedia files

A Texas power developer is proposing to repurpose nuclear reactors from Navy warships to power the United States grid as the Trump administration pushes to secure massive amounts of energy for the artificial intelligence boom.

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HGP Intelligent Energy LLC filed an application to the Energy Department to redirect two retired reactors to a data center project proposed at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, according to a letter submitted to the agency’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing. The project, filed for the White House’s Genesis Mission, would produce about 450-520 megawatts of around-the-clock electricity, or enough to power roughly 360,000 homes.

In theory, tapping the reactors could become one of the fastest ways to add baseload power to the grid as the U.S. struggles to meet surging power demand. Building new reactors — traditional big plants or next-generation smaller units — are years away, as are new big natural gas-fired plants. Repurposing military reactors for such civilian use, however, is unchartered territory.

Naval aircraft carriers or submarines are each equipped with two reactors: A4W units made by Westinghouse Electric Co. or S8G-class units made by General Electric. Rewiring two of them would cost about US$1 million to US$4 million per megawatt, a fraction of building new reactor, according to the proposal. HGP’s plan includes a revenue share with the government, and the company would create a decommissioning fund.

The developer plans to file for a loan guarantee from the Energy Department, according to the letter. The project would require about US$1.8 billion to US$2.1 billion of private capital to build related infrastructure to prepare the reactors for general use, according to the proposal submitted to the DOE and seen by Bloomberg News. The first phase could be completed as soon as 2029, according to the proposal.

“We already know how to do this safely and at scale, and we’re fortunate to have a solid base of investors and partners who share that vision,” HGP chief executive Gregory Forero said in a statement.

With assistance from Joe Deaux.

Bloomberg.com