Thirteen announced projects have committed more than 9.8 GW of nuclear capacity to AI data centers. The figure, updated to May 2026, comes from the SMR Intel tracker. Every major US cloud infrastructure operator has signed at least one agreement.
The contracts are long-term. Microsoft’s deal for the Three Mile Island plant, renamed Crane, runs for twenty years. Meta’s agreement for Clinton extends to 2047. These commitments give plant operators a stable revenue stream for decades.
The driver is electricity demand. According to the International Energy Agency, data center consumption grew 17% in 2025 and is set to more than double by 2030, from about 415 TWh in 2024 to about 945 TWh. In the United States, Goldman Sachs estimates that data center demand will rise from 31 GW in 2025 to 66 GW in 2027. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory indicates that by 2030 data centers could account for 11.8% of national electricity consumption.
Nuclear meets a specific need of data centers: continuous power, day and night, with availability above 90% and low carbon emissions in operation. That is why large tech groups are seeking direct contracts with generators. Restarting shuttered plants also takes less time than building from scratch, and several US operators are weighing that route.
The push extends to the fuel supply chain. The World Nuclear Association estimates that uranium demand will grow 28% by 2030 and more than double by 2040. Each gigawatt of reactor capacity consumes about 0.42 million pounds of U3O8 per year, and the first core of a new reactor requires roughly three times that amount. Fuel accounts for only a small share of the final cost of electricity, so buyers can accept higher prices without upsetting their economics.
The issue also touches Italy, which has reopened the debate on next-generation nuclear power. If the US contracts translate into reactors and restarts by the end of the decade, European suppliers of components and fuel will have concrete demand to target. The 9.8 GW of projects is the indicator to watch in the coming quarters.
