Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Two days after Google cut a “world’s first” deal to purchase electricity from advanced nuclear reactors, Amazon announced three new agreements of its own today.
Each deal supports the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), which can be one-tenth to one-quarter the size of a traditional nuclear power plant. If these projects make it to the finish line, SMRs would be a source of carbon pollution-free energy for big tech companies trying to salvage their climate goals by turning to nuclear energy.
Amazon signed an agreement with Energy Northwest, a consortium of public utilities in Washington state, to “enable the development” of four SMRs by the early 2030s. Energy…