In light of increasing scrutiny from organizations like the UN, which is calling for major AI companies to disclose the environmental footprint of their data centers (including water usage, carbon emissions, and land use), Nvidia is collaborating with Valar Atomics to propose nuclear energy as a solution. This partnership aims to mitigate the environmental impact of AI data centers, as reported by Reuters.
Valar Atomics has successfully demonstrated its microreactor powering Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chip architecture in Utah, marking what is claimed to be the first instance of a small nuclear reactor supplying an AI data center.
A key focus of this initiative is water conservation. Traditional liquid cooling methods for data centers are a significant environmental concern. Nvidia suggests that its closed-loop design has the potential to drastically cut cooling water consumption for facilities, reducing it from approximately 2.6 million gallons per megawatt annually to nearly zero. Valar Atomics further explains that its high-temperature reactor utilizes helium instead of water for cooling purposes.
This announcement comes amid growing controversy surrounding the substantial electricity and water demands of data centers. US companies are increasingly looking towards private “behind-the-meter” power generation, including natural gas and emerging nuclear reactor technologies. Concurrently, the Trump administration is advocating for expanded nuclear power deployment and accelerated development of small reactor projects.