Hello,

There’s a nuclear war brewing, but not the kind to be afraid of. Last week, Meta struck a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy that will see the tech giant purchase around 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear power starting in 2027. That’s enough to power roughly 750,000 homes, or nearly enough to charge a flux capacitor in a time-travelling DeLorean.

 

Why does Meta need all this energy? For AI, of course. A query on ChatGPT demands 10x the power of using an ordinary search engine. Data centres globally already use more electricity than the entire country of France and demand is expected to more than double in the next five years. Nuclear power has emerged as the reliable source that is necessary to facilitate this growth.

 

In fact, Meta is playing catch-up to rivals Microsoft and Google. The latter has already made agreements to develop its own nuclear reactors, while Microsoft made a deal last year to re-open Three Mile Island (Yes, that Three Mile Island) and use the entirety of its output for data centres.

 

As has often been the case throughout history, technological advances in one field have a spillover effect, forcing innovation in others. AI has created demand for nuclear power that might just reform the energy sector as a whole. This would have repercussions for investors and also for commodities like oil and, in particular: uranium.

 

As always, if you wish to discuss anything in further detail, please do get in touch.