AI data centers are turning to nuclear power. See how reactor cooling, dry cooling, and data-center cooling shape water demand—and where CRYOLOOP fits.
Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are placing major bets on nuclear power for AI infrastructure. Microsoft has a 20year agreement supporting the restart of the Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania. Google is backing up to 500 megawatts of Kairos Power reactors. Amazon has expanded its nuclearenergy relationship with Talen Energy. Meta has announced agreements supporting up to 6.6 gigawatts of new and existing nuclear capacity by 2035. The appeal is clear: nuclear can provide large amounts of firm, lowcarbon electricity for workloads that do not sleep. But the nucleardatacenter story has a second infrastructure question. Conventional nuclear plants often require substantial cooling water, and many data centers do too. When both demands converge in one region, power planning quickly becomes water planning. Why do so many nuclear plants sit beside rivers, lakes, or the ocean? Because the heat left after electricity generation has to go somewhere. Why Nuclear Plants Need Cooling Water Most commercial nuclear plants generate electricity by using reactor heat to produce steam. After that steam turns a turbine, it must be condensed back into water so the cycle can repeat. The cond