Nuclear energy is gaining renewed consideration in the US as synthetic intelligence and information middle enlargement drive demand for dependable, large-scale electrical energy.
In response to the newest Miner Weekly publication from TheEnergyMag, current annual filings recommend that main utilities and energy producers consider the US could also be coming into a “nuclear renaissance.”
The publication cited current annual filings displaying that utilities are linking the revival to long-term energy contracts with AI hyperscalers corresponding to Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms.
Somewhat than relying solely on renewable vitality credit to offset emissions, some hyperscalers are actually backing whole nuclear services to safe around-the-clock carbon-free electrical energy, the publication mentioned.
Whereas main expertise corporations are more and more turning to nuclear vitality to safe long-term energy provides, Bitcoin miners have been among the many first to experiment with colocating high-performance computing subsequent to giant baseload vitality sources.
The publication notes that miners acknowledged early that nuclear energy — as soon as considered as a declining business — might grow to be crucial infrastructure for the subsequent technology of high-performance computing.
One early instance was TeraWulf, which in 2021 shaped a three way partnership with Pennsylvania-based Talen Vitality to develop the Nautilus Cryptomine facility subsequent to the Susquehanna nuclear energy plant. As TheEnergyMag reported, the mining operation was designed to attract electrical energy immediately from the nuclear facility.
Associated: Bitcoin mining’s 2026 reckoning: AI pivots, margin strain and a struggle to outlive
Nuclear energy’s position in Bitcoin mining has been rising
The hyperlink between Bitcoin mining and nuclear vitality isn’t new.
As early as 2022, researchers on the Cambridge Centre for Different Finance — a analysis institute on the College of Cambridge that research digital asset markets — reported that nuclear energy had already been gaining floor in Bitcoin mining for a number of years.
In response to the middle’s information, nuclear vitality accounted for about 4% of Bitcoin mining in 2021, rising to almost 9% in 2022.
That share has since edged nearer to 10%, whereas sustainable vitality sources total, together with nuclear, hydropower and wind, now account for about 52.4% of Bitcoin mining’s electrical energy consumption.
Bitcoin mining electrical energy consumption by supply in 2025. Supply: Cambridge Centre for Different Finance
One other improvement attracting consideration from each the AI and crypto industries is the rise of small modular reactors (SMRs). These reactors are designed to be smaller and sooner to deploy than conventional crops, making them simpler to colocate with energy-intensive infrastructure corresponding to information facilities.
As Cointelegraph reported, corporations like Google have already signed agreements to develop SMRs to energy future computing services — a mannequin that would ultimately lengthen to large-scale Bitcoin mining operations.
Associated: France’s Rassemblement Nationwide occasion backs Bitcoin mining with nuclear vitality
