Plant Vogtle, the nation's largest nuclear power facility, illustrates both the potential and the practical limits of nuclear energy as a solution to surging electricity demand from AI-driven data centers. The Georgia Power-operated plant near Waynesboro ultimately cost $30 billion to expand, more than double its original estimate, after delays tied to vibrating cooling pipes, a coolant pump failure and the bankruptcy of lead contractor Westinghouse in 2017.
When its two newest reactors began operating in 2023 and 2024, they became the first new nuclear units built in the United States in three decades and the country's largest source of carbon-free electricity. Nuclear power is drawing renewed attention as tech companies pursue large data center projects, including the Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas, which plans to draw on a mix of natural gas, solar and nuclear power.
Industry voices remain divided on nuclear's role in meeting near-term demand. Clifton Lowry, vice president of planning at the Tennessee Valley Authority, said nuclear's long construction timelines make it a poor fit for data centers needing power soon, while natural gas is expected to be the fastest-growing power source for data centers in the near term.
Some utilities are nonetheless pursuing new nuclear capacity informed by lessons from Vogtle. Santee Cooper, a South Carolina state-owned utility, reached an agreement with Brookfield Asset Management to study restarting construction of two nuclear reactors near Columbia, South Carolina, while the Tennessee Valley Authority received a $400 million federal grant to pursue small modular reactors at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Source: CoStar News -- https://www.costar.com/article/1235417679/georgia-plant-shows-nuclear-energys-potential-and-risks-in-meeting-ai-power-demand