Russia and the United States are discussing joint projects for data centers powered by Russian nuclear plants, including small-scale units. Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and head of the RDIF sovereign wealth fund, made the statement on October 17 at Russian Energy Week in Moscow.
Dmitriev spoke of joint initiatives that would follow the diesel agreement reached last week. Among the options, he said, are Russian and American data centers, some of which could run on small nuclear plants. He gave no details on sites, capacity or timelines. The envoy said he is optimistic that these initiatives can be launched before the conflict in Ukraine ends.
The list of files is broader. According to Dmitriev, Moscow will continue to supply the United States with uranium, as well as fertilizers, aluminum and rare earths. Projects in the Arctic, energy and liquefied natural gas are also on the list. He added that the US Treasury has reportedly approached his fund for help in implementing the diesel deal.
The backdrop is the surge in electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence. Data centers need continuous, low-emission power, and nuclear is among the sources most sought after by big tech companies. Dmitriev has argued for months that Russia offers some of the cheapest electricity in the world and that AI data centers are, first and foremost, a question of available power.
Obstacles remain. Dmitriev himself acknowledged that US sanctions impose serious limits and called the Graham Act, signed by Donald Trump last month to curb Moscow’s energy revenues, a mistake. A day before his remarks, Trump had suspended most of the measures provided for in that package. Export bans on advanced chips, which would be needed to run those data centers, remain in force. Neither Washington nor US technology companies have confirmed the scope or feasibility of the projects.
For the nuclear sector, the signal is clear: data center power demand is now pushing small modular reactors into diplomatic negotiations. Whether the understandings between Moscow and Washington stay on paper or turn into contracts will depend on how sanctions evolve and on the Ukraine negotiations. Either way, the pairing of small reactors with energy-intensive computing is now a topic for government-level talks.
