News Oracle will use three small nuclear reactors to power new 1-gigawatt AI data center

[The Historical Fidelity]

This one.? If so, you are easy to find just by that number, that was the first hit of the search for 3853 MW

https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=764

Hahaha Texas is a big state, what’s near in Texas is 2 states over in others.

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

Research reactors (like Kodak's, and those at universities) are not power reactors. Their electricity output is zilch. The vast majority are also pulsed reactors that generate a very rapid ramp up and ramp down in reactivity and can be cooled simply by being immersed in a sufficient volume of water - total output power over time is extremely low. A power reactor on the other hand produces heat in a steady state, and it is dealing with that constant reactivity and heat output that is the challenge. Power reactors are far more complex and with more support machinery than research reactors.

As for economic viability: large datacentres draw so much power that they effectively require that power capacity to be added to the grid SOMEWHERE in order to support them. Building the power plant alongside the power consumer cuts out a lot of grid capacity work, and makes pricing the cost of building that plant a direct cost rather than something that needs to be spread over a few years/decades of projected power usage charges (which need to price in risk, e.g. that the datacentre operator folds and ceases operating a year into the contract and that power plant is now effectively unfunded).

Most of the university reactors are used to test materials in a high neutron flux environment.

 

[TheJoker2020]

Hahaha Texas is a big state, what’s near in Texas is 2 states over in others.

Well, yeah, or a couple of COUNTRIES over in Europe

https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/united-kingdom/texas-usa

 

[ThomasKinsley]

They went to the US government shortly after the first nuke was set off and asked them what was going on because they had very clear evidence that something had happened, and if they could tell because it showed up on their film (that they were selling to the C_A for their spy planes) and other film manufacturers would also be able to tell as the fallout spread.!

The film was then later used to identify the spread of fallout, how much, where and when. Literal patterns (wind) shown for detonation after detonation (for decades not just 1945) via Kodak film.!!! Two impressive stories in one...

As for whether any of their scientists worked ON the Manhattan Project before this event I do not know, I am not an expert in this field, but know of the above Kodak incidents (it was on QI (Quite Interesting) many years ago) and it's not something I would forget unless I had dementia.

The Manhattan Project is mentioned by Doug Collins in his book, The Story of Kodak on page 244. Kodak scientists worked in Oak Ridge on the site dubbed Dogpatch where they enriched uranium for nuclear testing. Not entirely sure on the connections, but separate from the book I think William J. Wilcox, Jr. was a member on this team. Fascinating stuff, which may explain why they got their own nuclear reactor with military grade enrichment.

 

[Eximo]

Well, Kodak also made rifles during WWII and all other manner of war materials. Kodak Eastman was a big company.

 

[Kondamin]

and makes pricing the cost of building that plant a direct cost rather than something that needs to be spread over a few years/decades of projected power usage charges (which need to price in risk, e.g. that the datacentre operator folds and ceases operating a year into the contract and that power plant is now effectively unfunded).

There is a lot of infrastructure and licensing involved in setting up a data centre, power is only part of it, so even if one folds someone else will make use of the location as building out a new location isn't as evident.
Municipalities are just as keen on them as big power plants and it will only get worse as more people are confronted with the heat belching monstrosities