Samsung Invests $100M in Nuclear Reactor for Google

Google's bet on nuclear power just got a serious boost from one of the world's biggest engineering firms.

Kairos Power, a nuclear startup working with Google, announced Monday that Samsung C&T will invest $100 million to help build its first commercial nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The deal includes $70 million in direct investment plus engineering services from a company that has built about a dozen nuclear reactors worldwide.

The partnership addresses one of tech's biggest challenges right now. AI data centers are consuming massive amounts of electricity, and companies like Google need clean, reliable power sources that won't increase carbon emissions. Nuclear energy offers that solution without the weather dependence of solar or wind.

Kairos is building two reactors in Tennessee. The first, called Hermes 1, is a small demonstration model to test the technology. The second, Hermes 2, will be the first full-scale commercial reactor, generating 50 megawatts of power when it comes online in 2030.

What makes these reactors different is the technology inside. Kairos uses fluoride salt cooling instead of water, which keeps pressure low and reduces the risk of dangerous blowouts. The fuel itself, called TRISO, wraps tiny uranium seeds in layers of ceramic and carbon inside billiard ball sized spheres, designed specifically to prevent meltdowns.

The company received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late 2024 to start construction. That approval marked a turning point for modern nuclear technology, validating designs that experts have discussed for years but never built at commercial scale.

Google signed its original deal with Kairos in fall 2024, asking the company to eventually build enough reactors to generate half a gigawatt of electricity by 2035. That's enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes, or in this case, multiple data centers running AI operations.

The Ripple Effect

This partnership signals a broader shift in how we think about nuclear power. For decades, nuclear energy has been viewed with skepticism due to safety concerns from older reactor designs. These new technologies address those fears head on with passive safety features that work even if systems fail.

The deal also shows how AI's massive energy demands might actually accelerate the clean energy transition. Tech companies need so much power that they're willing to invest in advanced nuclear technology, bringing down costs and proving the concept for wider use. What starts as power for data centers could eventually become affordable energy for entire communities.

Samsung's involvement brings crucial construction expertise to meet aggressive timelines. Five years to build a nuclear reactor is fast by industry standards, but Kairos will need to move even quicker on future reactors to meet Google's full order. With Samsung's experience building reactors globally, that ambitious goal looks more achievable.

Clean energy that works around the clock just moved from concept to construction timeline.