Big Tech Is Going Nuclear — Why Amazon, Microsoft and Google Are Signing 20-Year Nuclear Deals

Every time you ask an AI a question, it uses roughly 10 times the electricity of a Google search. ChatGPT and similar services field hundreds of millions of queries every day. Add that up, and the power demand is staggering. That's exactly why Amazon, Microsoft and Google have started signing 20-year contracts with nuclear power plants.

Why Can't Solar and Wind Do the Job?

Solar and wind are genuinely clean energy sources — but they have one critical flaw: they depend on the weather. No sun, no solar. No wind, no wind power. Data centers, on the other hand, need to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without a single second of downtime. If the power cuts out, the AI service goes with it. Weather-dependent energy simply can't guarantee that kind of uninterrupted supply. And before you ask — storing enough electricity in batteries to carry a large data center through several cloudy, windless days isn't feasible with today's technology.

Why Amazon, Microsoft and Google Chose Nuclear

Nuclear power ticks both boxes that Big Tech needs: near-zero carbon emissions and rock-solid, around-the-clock electricity — regardless of weather. Each company took a slightly different approach. Amazon signed a 20-year PPA (Power Purchase Agreement — a long-term contract locking in electricity at a set price) with a nuclear operator, attracting roughly $3 billion in investment tied to the deal. Microsoft went further, inking a 20-year contract in 2024 to restart Three Mile Island — the Pennsylvania plant famous for its 1979 accident — as a dedicated power source. Google placed its bet on SMRs, or Small Modular Reactors — a next-generation design that's much smaller than a traditional plant and faster to build.

What Does This Mean for Korean Investors?

South Korea is one of the world's leading nuclear technology countries. It has the design, construction and operational know-how to export full nuclear plants — as it demonstrated with the Barakah project in the UAE. As Big Tech's appetite for nuclear power grows, market attention on Korean companies that supply nuclear components and engineering services has been rising. SMRs are a particular area of interest. Unlike conventional large reactors, SMRs are factory-built in modules and assembled on site, meaning shorter construction timelines and lower costs. As global tech giants bet on SMRs, countries and companies with proven capabilities in this space are positioned to benefit. Understanding the broader energy infrastructure landscape — without chasing any single stock — can give investors a useful edge in reading where the market is heading.