Google, Meta pledge to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 as technology sees looming 'renaissance'

Paula Duhatschek · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 14, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

A radical of big-name companies including Google, Meta and Dow have signed a pledge to enactment tripling the world's atomic vigor capableness by 2050, a awesome of the technology's increasing resurgence in popularity.

It mirrors a akin committedness made by a radical of countries including Canada astatine the UN clime league successful Dubai successful 2023, and a pledge from a radical of fiscal institutions past year.

The displacement comes arsenic countries and companies grapple with however to enactment up their vigor information and conscionable increasing request for powerfulness without dramatically expanding greenhouse state emissions.

"There's been, astatine a planetary level, a batch of pragmatism, a batch of realism," Sama Bilbao y Leon, manager wide of the World Nuclear Association, told CBC News connected the sidelines of CERAWeek, a monolithic Houston-based league often described arsenic the "Super Bowl of energy," where the pledge was signed. 

"Many countries started to bash their mathematics and recognized that reaching their goals was simply not going to beryllium feasible without a important maturation of nuclear."

The manufacture is getting plentifulness of buzz astatine CERAWeek — including from U.S. vigor caput and lipid and state booster Chris Wright — though immoderate accidental that extracurricular the walls of the vigor conference, nationalist sentiment could beryllium a sticking point. 

Growing momentum

Nuclear powerfulness has gone done respective periods of maturation and diminution successful the past half-century, including a emergence successful popularity successful the 1980s that was astir halted pursuing the Chornobyl accident, according to a study from the International Energy Agency (IEA). A renaissance successful the 2000s was besides thrown disconnected people pursuing the Fukushima atomic mishap successful Japan successful 2011, the effect of an earthquake and tsunami.

A deficiency of caller operation combined with aging infrastructure led to a diminution successful the stock of atomic powerfulness to the world's wide vigor mix, going from 24 per cent successful 2001 to astir 17 per cent successful 2023, the bureau said. 

But it said a comeback is underway, with atomic powerfulness acceptable to make a grounds level of energy successful 2025. 

LISTEN | Nuclear is making a comeback: 

"More than 70 gigawatts of caller atomic capableness is nether operation globally, 1 of the highest levels successful the past 30 years," said the IEA's enforcement manager Fatih Birol successful a release.

This comes amid spiking request for energy owed successful portion to the emergence of AI information centres. The vantage of atomic powerfulness is that it doesn't straight emit c dioxide and it tin tally 24/7. 

Google's caput of cleanable energy, for example, told a assemblage of vigor executives this week that portion the institution has made large investments successful upwind and solar, it realized that wouldn't beryllium capable to conscionable its request for power. 

"If you privation to execute 24/7, carbon-free energy, you request a full scope of technologies that see cleanable resources similar nuclear," said Lucia Tian, speaking astatine a CERAWeek panel.

U.S. Secretary of State Chris Wright also boosted the exertion during a code that disparaged renewables similar upwind and star power. Wright said helium plans to make a long-awaited "nuclear renaissance" successful the U.S., and spoke fondly of a longstanding passionateness for atomic powerfulness that began erstwhile helium was a kid looking astatine stars successful the nighttime sky.

The bulk of Canada's atomic powerfulness assemblage is concentrated successful Ontario, which is readying a atomic "expansion" that includes a imaginable caller works adjacent Port Hope.

There is besides increasing involvement successful Canada astir tiny modular reactors (SMRs). These are precocious atomic reactors with roughly one-third of the generating capableness of their accepted counterparts. They're besides overmuch smaller, meaning their parts tin be assembled astatine factories, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Canada has 1 large SMR task successful precocious improvement and 4 different aviator and objection projects being planned, according to the Canada Energy Regulator. Several provinces, including Alberta, person besides indicated support to research SMRs. 

That's bully quality for companies similar NuScale Power, an Oregon-based SMR business. CEO John Hopkins says the exertion has already been done the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission process and could beryllium deployed "anywhere successful the U.S. oregon Canada" arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2031.

"I spot the earthy progression oregon groundswell continuing to physique for clime disruption, but besides for vigor security," Hopkins told CBC News, pointing to rumours that Germany mightiness beryllium backtracking connected its determination to get retired of atomic power. 

"That is huge, potentially, if they bash that."

PR hurdle?

Still, Hopkins said 1 situation connected the skyline could beryllium nationalist relations. There are inactive radical who subordinate atomic powerfulness with high-profile accidents, helium said. 

"People of my property retrieve Three Mile Island, they retrieve Chornobyl," said Hopkins, though helium noted younger radical don't thin to person the aforesaid associations. 

Joe Brettell, a Texas-based PR executive, made a akin point. The authorities has large atomic ambitions with plans to make its SMR industry. 

"Are we talking to the radical astir it, helping them recognize what their relation and accidental is, particularly with thing similar atomic that has conscionable immoderate inherent affectional baggage for a batch of people?" helium said. "Chornobyl, Three Mile Island, these are unfortunate circumstances that are lone a Google hunt away."

In Ontario, absorption has besides  emerged astir plans for atomic discarded disposal sites. 

For its part, the World Nuclear Association says that portion high-profile accidents similar Chornobyl and Three Mile Island person been "spectacular and newsworthy," the hazard of accidents successful atomic power plants is "low and declining." 

Bilbao y Leon, the association's leader, besides believes nationalist sentiment astir atomic powerfulness is shifting arsenic the tendency for affordable and unafraid vigor outweighs erstwhile hesitation. She said portion gathering caller atomic projects is costly upfront, successful the agelong word it's a cheap, unchangeable signifier of power. 

"This is portion of that newfound pragmatism," she said. 

Perhaps obscurity is this much evident than successful Japan, which has gradually been restarting respective of its reactors aft shutting them down pursuing the Fukushima disaster. 

"Restarting the existing atomic powerfulness plants volition beryllium the cheapest enactment for us, you don't person to physique thing new," Tatsuya Terazawa, CEO of the Tokyo-based Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. The state is planning to ramp up its usage of atomic powerfulness to provender powerfulness request from AI and semiconductors. 

Going forward, Bilbao y Leon said she volition beryllium watching to spot atomic plans and pledges materialize into action. 

"It's large to person this announcement," she said. "The adjacent happening is to marque that happen."