Offering a unique approach to powering data centers through nuclear fission energy, Deep Fission and Endeavour Energy have just announced a strategic partnership. Their collaboration plans to bury small modular reactors (SMRs) a mile underground.
     A Deep Fission in a press release said, “As part of the agreement, Endeavour and Deep Fission have committed to co-developing 2 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear energy to power Endeavour’s expanding global portfolio of Edged data centers.” Notably, the first reactors are expected to be operational by 2029.
     Deep Fission is a nuclear energy company that is pioneering this new approach. They have designed SMRs that are lowered into thirty-inch boreholes drilled a mile deep.
     This technique takes advantage of the natural geological properties at that depth. The earth supplies robust containment and constant pressure. This eliminates the need for huge concrete structures typically used for containment in aboveground nuclear reactors.
     This approach offers several important advantages. It significantly reduces the cost of construction and minimizes the environmental impact by decreasing the surface footprint of the nuclear power plant.
     Elizabeth Muller is Co-Founder and CEO of Deep Fission. She said, “Our technology not only ensures the highest levels of safety but also positions us to deliver zero-carbon continuous power at a cost of just 5-7 cents per kWh.”  In addition, it enhances safety by utilizing the natural geological features as a barrier.
     Endeavour Energy’s SMR, which it will be co-developing with Deep Fission, will be utilized to power its growing global network of Edged data centers.
     Jakob Carnemark is the Founder of Endeavour and Edged data centers. He said, “We are constantly searching for technologies capable of supporting the unprecedented demands of AI and meeting green energy goals, but they have to be economically viable. Deep Fission’s solution slashes the high costs and long timelines of surface-built nuclear projects. It enhances safety, and delivers clean, reliable energy with high power density of more than one hundred megawatts in a quarter acre.”
     There is significant momentum for getting power from nuclear reactors for data centers right now.
     In October of 2024, Google signed the world’s first corporate agreement with Kairos Power to buy electricity from multiple SMRs for its data centers. As per a blog post from Google, it plans to purchase a total of five hundred megawatts of power from six to seven reactors.
     OpenAI CEO Sam Altman-backed nuclear energy startup Oklo has just entered into a partnership to provide up to twelve gigawatts of energy to Switch, a leading AI provider and data center operator.
     This highlights the growing need for clean and reliable energy sources for data centers. These sources are crucial to cover the increasing energy demands of AI applications and other compute-intensive workloads.
     The latest innovative technology from Deep Fusion has the potential to reshape the energy landscape for a more sustainable future. It can provide a potentially safer and more cost-effective way to generate clean energy.
      The press release concludes that “The partnership between Deep Fission and Endeavour will redefine how clean energy is incorporated into electricity-demanding industries.”

Deep Fission