A startup wants to build a massive nuclear-powered data center on public land in Utah
Startup Valar Atomics has proposed 'Project Beehive,' a massive data center powered by hundreds of small nuclear reactors on federal land in Utah. The project has drawn criticism from environmental groups concerned about the use of public land and nuclear safety.
Why it matters
The proposal highlights the growing energy demands of data centers and the controversial intersection of nuclear power and public land use.
A startup whose founder has vowed to "make nuclear great again" is planning to place hundreds of reactors on federal land in Utah, according to documents reviewed by NPR.
Valar Atomics is planning what it calls "Project Beehive" on over 9,000 acres of land held under the Bureau of Land Management near Price, Utah. The facility would include data centers and some 456 small nuclear reactors, along with a facility to produce nuclear fuel and others for storing nuclear waste, according to a proposal from the company to federal regulators.
In aggregate, the reactors would produce around 9.6 gigawatts of power for the data centers and even more thermal heat for other industrial applications. Currently, the entire state of Utah produces only around 4 gigawatts of electricity on average (though its peak capacity in summer can reach around 10 gigawatts).
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