Oracle is designing a data center that would be powered by three small nuclear reactors

Oracle is designing a data center that would be powered by three small nuclear reactors


A view of Oracle’s headquarters in Redwood Shores, California, on Sept. 11, 2023.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Oracle chairman and co-founder Larry Ellison had a “bizarre” announcement to make this week.

The electricity demand from artificial intelligence is becoming so “crazy” that Oracle is looking to secure power from next-generation nuclear technology, Ellison told investors on the company’s earnings call Monday.

“Let me say something that’s going to sound really bizarre,” Ellison told analysts. “Well, you’d probably say, well, he says bizarre things all the time, so why is he announcing this one. It must be really bizarre.”

Oracle is designing a data center that will require more than a gigawatt of electricity, the company’s chairman said. The data center would be powered by three small nuclear reactors, he added.

“The location and the power place we’ve located, they’ve already got building permits for three nuclear reactors,” Ellison said. “These are the small modular nuclear reactors to power the data center. This is how crazy it’s getting. This is what’s going on.”

Ellison did not disclose the location of the data center or the future reactors. CNBC reached out to Oracle for comment.

Small modular nuclear reactors are new designs that promise to speed the deployment of reliable, carbon-free energy as power demand rises from data centers, manufacturing, and the broader electrification of the economy.

Generally, these reactors are 300 megawatts or less, about a third the size of the typical reactor in the current U.S. fleet. They would be prefabricated in several pieces and then assembled on the site, reducing the capital costs that stymie larger plants.

Right now, small modular reactors are a technology of the future, with executives in the nuclear industry generally agreeing that they won’t be commercialized in the U.S. until the 2030s.

There are currently three operational small modular reactors in the world, according to the Nuclear Energy Agency. Two are in China and Russia, the central geopolitical adversaries of the U.S. A test reactor is also operational in Japan.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:



Source

Most Fed officials see rate cuts coming, but opinions vary widely on how many, minutes show
World

Most Fed officials see rate cuts coming, but opinions vary widely on how many, minutes show

Federal Reserve officials diverged at their June meeting about how aggressively they would be willing to cut interest rates, split between concerns over tariff-fueled inflation and signs of labor market weakness and economic strength. Minutes from the June 17-18 meeting released Wednesday showed that policymakers largely held to a wait-and-see position on future rate moves. […]

Read More
Nvidia hits  trillion market cap, first company to do so
World

Nvidia hits $4 trillion market cap, first company to do so

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends a roundtable discussion at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 11, 2025. Sarah Meyssonnier | Reuters Nvidia stock jumped more than 2% on Wednesday, topping a $4 trillion market cap for the first time as investors scooped […]

Read More
Samsung launches three new foldable smartphones as it fends off Chinese rivals
World

Samsung launches three new foldable smartphones as it fends off Chinese rivals

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is super thin, measuring just 8.9 millimeters when closed and 4.2 millimeters when unfolded. Ryan Browne | CNBC Samsung on Wednesday launched three new folding smartphones — including thinner top-end devices and a cheaper version of its flip phone — as the tech giant looks to entice buyers to make the […]

Read More