Meta nuclear powered AI data center disrupted by discovery of rare bee species

A potential nuclear power supply deal for a Meta artificial intelligence (AI) data center was obstructed by the discovery of a rare species of bee on the land where the project was planned.

According to a Financial Times report, Meta had planned to partner with an existing nuclear power operator to provide energy for a planned AI specific data center.

According to sources, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Meta during a meeting for everyone last week that the discovery of the bee species would have complicated the project, compounding other issues in the environmental and regulatory process.

Details of the planned data center's location or the nuclear partner were not shared.

Despite the setback, Meta will continue seeking deals with the low-carbon sector and hasn't ruled out any nuclear energy supply agreements in the future.

The report comes as big tech companies make deals with nuclear power plants to provide energy. This is because data centers need a lot of power and the demand is growing very fast.

In September, Microsoft said it will buy all the electricity from the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. The plant will produce 837 megawatts of power for 20 years. This is a big deal because the Three Mile Island plant had an accident in the past, but now it will be used to provide clean energy to power Microsoft's data centers.

It has also previously signed PPA deals to procure the output of several other nuclear plants.

Back in March, AWS acquired Talen Energy’s data center campus next to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania for $650 million. Earlier this month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected a proposed interconnection service agreement (ISA) for the power station which would have supported an expanded colocated load at AWS' data center.

Hyperscalers, or large cloud computing companies, have also become increasingly interested in the small modular reactor sector. They have signed a number of deals recently to explore the use of SMRs for their energy needs. For example, last month, Amazon Web Services (AWS) signed three nuclear power deals in the US, including an agreement with Energy Northwest, a consortium of state public utilities, that will enable the development of four advanced SMRs.

In addition, Google announced a 500MW deal with SMR provider Kairos Power. The firm expects the first of the six to seven reactors under the agreement to come online in 2030.

1. hasn't ruled out something: The phrase "hasn't ruled out something" typically means that a person or organization has not definitively decided against or eliminated a particular course of action or possibility. It suggests that the option is still being considered, even if a final decision has not been made. The phrase is often used when discussing potential future plans, decisions or events that are still in flux. 

2. procure : to obtain something, especially something that is difficult to get. 
example: He was accused of procuring weapons for terrorists.

3. colocated load: The term "colocated load" refers to a data center or other large electricity consumer that is physically located near or at the same site as the power generation source it is drawing electricity from. This arrangement allows for more efficient transmission and distribution of electricity, but also raises some potential challenges and considerations.

4. nuclear power plants: Nuclear power plants are facilities that generate electricity by harnessing the energy released from the controlled fission (splitting) of uranium atoms.

5. nuclear power supply deal: The term "nuclear power supply deal" refers to recent agreements signed by major tech companies like Google and Amazon to purchase electricity generated by small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs).

6. "PPA deals": The term "PPA deals" refers to Power Purchase Agreements, which are long-term contracts between renewable energy producers and corporate buyers.