TerraPower, the Bill Gates-backed nuclear startup based in Bellevue, Washington, announced Friday a massive deal with Meta to build up to eight small modular reactors across the U.S., with the first two going live as soon as 2032.
This marks Meta’s biggest single nuclear energy contract to date, driven by the tech giant’s desperate need to power AI-hungry data centers.
Meta’s nuclear shopping spree
The TerraPower agreement will deliver up to 2.8 gigawatts of energy using the company’s Natrium nuclear technology, which includes an energy storage system capable of short-term power bursts that push total output to 4 gigawatts.
If all eight reactors get built, they should be operational by 2035, according to Andrew Richards, TerraPower’s VP of government affairs, who confirmed Meta chose them after a competitive bidding process against other advanced reactor developers.
But TerraPower isn’t Meta’s only play. The company simultaneously announced partnerships with Vistra to extend operations at nuclear plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania for over 2.1 gigawatts, and with Sam Altman-backed Oklo for reactors in Pike County, Ohio, expected online by 2030 delivering up to 1.2 gigawatts.
Combined with their June deal with Constellation for an Illinois plant, Meta is positioning itself as one of America’s largest corporate nuclear energy buyers.
The AI power crunch
Tech companies are scrambling for clean energy solutions as AI infrastructure demands skyrocket.
Meta addressed growing concerns about utility ratepayer impacts head-on, stating they pay full costs for data center energy so consumers don’t foot the bill.
Three Democratic senators launched an investigation last month into how Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta and data center firms affect residential power rates.
Amazon and Microsoft are making similar moves, Amazon is partnering with X-energy for a facility in Richland, Washington, while Microsoft signed a 20-year deal in 2024 to restart Three Mile Island’s reactor in Pennsylvania, the site infamous for a 1979 partial meltdown.
TerraPower is currently building its first commercial reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming, near a retiring coal plant, targeting 2030 for operation.
The company launched in 2006 building on experimental breeder reactor technology from Idaho. In June, they disclosed $650 million in new funding from Gates and NVIDIA’s venture arm, adding to over $1 billion previously raised and roughly $2 billion awarded from the U.S. Department of Energy.
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