The Feasibility of Nuclear Power for AI Infrastructure and Data Centers
A technology and economics assessment — September 2026 Copyright: Sanjay Basu Sitting through the panels at Datacloud USA and Metro Connect Fall in Austin this week, from the Nuclear for AI Summit to the site-selection and power-procurement sessions, I came away convinced that the industry is still conflating two very different timelines, and the conference stage did little to separate them. The energy on the floor around nuclear was real and, I think, largely justified. Firm, carbon-free, co-locatable power is exactly the solution that hyperscale AI wants, and behind-the-meter generation is the one credible path around interconnection queues that now stretch past five years. But too many of the discussions treated announced SMR gigawatts as if they were bankable capacity rather than options on a 2030s bet whose economics remain unproven. Every unit built anywhere in the world so far has cost more and arrived later than promised, and NuScale should still be haunting these rooms. ...