Small Modular Reactor SMR Nuclear & Datacenter Colocation

Hyperscale AI datacenters require hundreds of megawatts of uninterrupted, carbon-free baseload power that weather-dependent solar and wind assets cannot reliably deliver. Nuclear power infrastructure research in the US AI datacenter power crisis odds playbook examines the surge in Small Modular Reactor (SMR) colocation agreements.

Unlike gigawatt-scale conventional nuclear plants requiring bespoke civil construction over a decade, SMRs are factory-fabricated modules producing 50 to 300 megawatts electrical output per unit. Hyperscalers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are signing direct off-take and development agreements to place SMRs adjacent to compute campuses.

By colocating behind-the-meter nuclear reactors directly with AI server clusters, operators bypass overloaded regional transmission grids, eliminate high-voltage transmission line transmission losses, and guarantee 24/7/365 clean energy with capacity factors exceeding 95%.