Google, Kairos Power plan advanced nuclear plant for Tennessee Valley Authority grid by 2030

In this articleGOOGL your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTLenoir City, Tennessee, Electrical transmission equipment at the Fort Loudoun Dam, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority

Jim West | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesAlphabet's Google and Kairos Power will deploy an advanced nu plant connected to the Tennessee Valley Authority's electric grid by 2030, the companies announced on Monday.TVA has agreed to purchase up to 50 megawatts of power from Kairos' Hermes 2 reactor

It is the first utility in the U.S. to sign a power purchase agreement with an advanced reactor Hermes 2, according to the companies.Hermes 2 is the first deployment under an agreement that Google and Kairos signed last year to launch the startup's nu nology at a commercial scale

The electricity will help power Google's data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama.Google, Kairos and TVA said their collaboration will move the U.S. a step closer to deploying advanced nu reactors by making sure consumers are not on the hook for the cost of building the plant.Kairos and Google will bear the financial risk associated with building the first-of-a-kind ject, the companies said

TVA, meanwhile, is viding the revenue the plant will need to operate through the power purchase agreement."We think this solves the blem of making sure that consumers don't carry that first-of-a-kind cost and risk," TVA CEO Don Moul told CNBC. "But it also allows innovators Kairos Power and thought leaders Google to bring this to market."Hermes 2 is expected to start operating at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 2030

It will need to apply for an operating license with the NRC before the plant can start operations.TVA declined to disclose how much it will pay for electricity from Hermes 2 when asked by CNBC

Kairos declined to disclose the estimated cost of the plant.Building nu againThe U.S. has basically stopped building nu plants due to the huge cost overruns and delays that plague the industry

The ject's blems contributed to the bankruptcy of industry stalwart Westinghouse.Startups Kairos believe their smaller plants will ve to be faster and more affordable to build than large reactors those at Vogtle, helping to usher in a new era of nu construction in the U.S

Despite these mises, utilities have been reluctant to commit to small advanced reactors over concerns the initial price tag.nology companies Google, meanwhile, are in advanced nu because they want reliable, carbon-free power to meet the demand from artificial intelligence while adhering to their environmental goals

Google has placed orders with Kairos for reactors totaling 500 megawatts of power that are targeted to come online through 2035.Rebar is placed at the Kairos Power Hermes foundation.Courtesy: Kairos Power"We specifically want to help commercialize," Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's global head of data center energy, told CNBC. "We want to see how can we take this from something small to something bigger that we can deploy at scale

That's really what the Hermes 2 ject is doing."One of Kairos' goals with Hermes 2 is to create a standardized reactor design which will help cut the cost of future deployments, CEO Mike Laufer told CNBC

Kairos will also develop the supply and manufacturing infrastructure needed to launch at scale through the construction of Hermes 2, he said."We'd be ready to deploy multiple reactors in series at the same sites in a very cost efficient way to der that power at affordable rates in the not too distant future," Laufer said

Kairos and Google are exploring options on where future plants will be deployed, he said.Oak Ridge, TVA nuke hubKairos' nology is different than the reactors currently operating in the U.S

Its reactor design uses liquid salt as the coolant rather than light water, which allows the plant to operate at near atmospheric pressure

This means Kairos can use thinner and less expensive materials because the reactor is not under high pressure

The Kairos reactor will increase its output to 75 megawatts when it launches on a commercial scale, Laufer said.Hermes 2 will be deployed near Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has a long history in nu science dating back to the Manhattan ject during World War II

The TVA was established by Congress during the Great Depression as a public corporation to electrify the region

The utility remains owned by the federal government."This kind of sets the stage for East Tennessee to really be what we see as a regional hub for innovation for nu construction and operation, and that's going to be valuable for the nation as well," Laufer said.Catch up on the energy news from CNBC :This solar stock has nearly 30% upside, Wells Fargo saysThis stock could benefit as Trump tries to put a nu reactor on the moon, according to BofAGoldman sees this uranium stock surging as U.S. expands nu power, invests in critical resourcesTrack all the coverage of oil prices and the oil and gas industry at CNBC.com.