The core module of China's forthcoming commercial SMR being transported last ...

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This is the core module of China's forthcoming commercial SMR Today most companies developing SMRs for commercial use are focusing on helping towns and cities to keep their lights on. However, a clutch of specialist firms have decided that data centres are the best candidates for their SMR designs. Dr Michael Bluck runs the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College London. "Data centres are power hungry things, but with AI we're moving into a new level of power requirements," he says. "There are about 50 SMR designs out there. The challenge is to build them in repeatable units, factory style, standardising production lines.

People question the viability of nuclear power due to the waste product and risk of an accident," says Mr Gitt. "We recycle the fuel through our reactor multiple times, dealing with the waste, and the new reactors cannot melt-down, they are self-cooling and self-regulating Binance App Users Data An artist's impression of the exterior of an Oklo SMR and data centre IMAGE SOURCE,OKLO Image caption, Oklo's designs for its planned SMRs appear to be going for more whimsy charm than your typical power station Mr Gitt declines to reveal if any data centre firms have already signed contracts, but he says that "all the major operators are interested". He adds: "Power is their biggest problem, and they want to deploy this technology within four years, by 2028." Mr Gitt says that his 25 years working in the energy business has convinced him that nuclear power is the only answer to the pressures the new AI data centre world faces.



they just don't have the power to turn on all the machines they need to have. We are signing letters of intent on specific data centre locations for the 2028 timeframe." So what will a data centre's very own nuclear plant look like? Oklo envisages a large stainless steel tank that contains the SMR dropped into a 50ft (15m) deep hole in the ground. The data centre would then constructed on and around it. Perhaps the ultimate tie up between SMRs, AI and data centres is evident on Oklo's board. Sam Altman, the high profile leader of leading AI firm OpenAI has been its chairman since 2015. As Mr Gitt says of Mr Altman, "he identified this issue 10 years ago.One of the last small-ish Android phones looks like it’s going the way of the iPhone Mini / Asus is supersizing the Zenfone.