TerraPower’s nuclear reactor has a secret weapon for powering AI data centers

TerraPower 的核反应堆拥有为人工智能数据中心供电的“秘密武器”

Nuclear power startups have been pitching themselves as the antidote to what ails AI data centers: power that’s always available. Bill Gates-founded TerraPower is one of the latest to throw its hat into that ring, with Bloomberg reporting that the startup plans to announce its first data center project this year. 核能初创公司一直将自己标榜为解决人工智能数据中心痛点的良药：即提供始终可用的电力。由比尔·盖茨创立的 TerraPower 是最新加入这一竞争的公司之一。据彭博社报道，该公司计划在今年宣布其首个数据中心项目。

TerraPower did not say who the customer will be, though in January, it announced that Meta had agreed to buy eight of its Natrium power plants. The data center project, expected to break ground in 2027, would be the company’s second power plant, with its first already under construction in Wyoming. TerraPower 并未透露客户是谁，不过该公司曾在 1 月份宣布，Meta 已同意购买其 8 座 Natrium 核电站。该数据中心项目预计于 2027 年动工，这将是该公司的第二座发电厂，其首座发电厂目前正在怀俄明州建设中。

Not every nuclear reactor is suited to data center duty, but TerraPower possesses one key advantage — energy storage — that promises to give it an edge over competitors. And it’s all thanks to renewable power sources like wind and solar. 并非所有的核反应堆都适合为数据中心供电，但 TerraPower 拥有一项关键优势——储能技术，这有望使其在竞争中脱颖而出。而这一切都要归功于风能和太阳能等可再生能源。

Nuclear reactors, TerraPower’s included, work best when they’re running at full tilt. Of all the different types of power plants, nuclear reactors have the highest capacity factor — 92.5% of the time, they generate at maximum power in the U.S. But in a way, they need to be. 包括 TerraPower 在内的核反应堆在满负荷运转时效率最高。在所有类型的发电厂中，核反应堆的容量系数最高——在美国，它们有 92.5% 的时间处于最大功率发电状态。在某种程度上，它们也必须如此。

Existing reactors are slow to ramp up and down, capable of increasing or decreasing only about 5% of their total rated output per minute, according to the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR). New small modular reactors (SMRs), which many startups are pursuing, can react faster, about 10% of their rated output per minute, per NLR. 根据落基山国家实验室（NLR）的数据，现有的反应堆升降功率速度缓慢，每分钟只能增加或减少约 5% 的总额定输出功率。许多初创公司正在研发的新型小型模块化反应堆（SMR）反应更快，据 NLR 称，每分钟可调节约 10% 的额定输出功率。

But running at reduced capacity isn’t ideal — it’s hard to make money when you’re not generating electrons. That’s true of any power plant, but it’s especially true of nuclear, which has the highest capital expenditures of any generating technology. 但以降低的容量运行并不理想——如果不发电，就很难盈利。这对任何发电厂来说都是事实，对于资本支出最高的核能发电技术而言更是如此。

Startups are hoping that mass manufacturing of SMRs will bring capex down, but that has yet to be proven. And if it does work, it could take a decade or more to reap the benefits. Every startup acknowledges that its early power plants will be expensive, so it makes sense to operate them at peak capacity as often as possible. 初创公司希望通过 SMR 的大规模制造来降低资本支出，但这还有待验证。即使成功，也可能需要十年或更长时间才能看到成效。每家初创公司都承认其早期的发电厂成本高昂，因此尽可能以峰值容量运行是合乎逻辑的。

For data centers, especially those that rely on behind-the-meter power, that poses a challenge. Their loads, especially when training AI or responding to prompts, can sink and soar quickly as GPUs respond to the tasks. The swings are so demanding that natural gas turbines have been breaking under the stress. To smooth the curve, they need to use large banks of batteries, which increase costs further. 对于数据中心，尤其是那些依赖表后（behind-the-meter）电力的中心来说，这构成了一个挑战。当 GPU 处理任务（特别是训练 AI 或响应提示）时，负载会迅速波动。这种波动要求极高，以至于天然气轮机在压力下经常出现故障。为了平滑功率曲线，他们需要使用大型电池组，这进一步增加了成本。

TerraPower designed its 345-megawatt molten salt-cooled reactor to work around those challenges. One of the key considerations was ensuring the reactor could complement intermittent sources of electricity like wind and solar — the power plant needed to ramp up and down quickly. TerraPower 设计的 345 兆瓦熔盐冷却反应堆正是为了解决这些挑战。其核心考量之一是确保反应堆能够补充风能和太阳能等间歇性电力来源——发电厂需要能够快速升降功率。

While TerraPower had renewable power, not data centers, in mind when it sketched its plans, the two are similarly intermittent, just on different sides of the equation. To ramp quickly, TerraPower doesn’t increase or decrease the power output of its reactor. Rather, it keeps on splitting atoms, and the extra heat gets stored in a giant vat of molten sodium. 虽然 TerraPower 在规划时考虑的是可再生能源而非数据中心，但两者在间歇性方面是相似的，只是处于供需的不同侧面。为了快速调节功率，TerraPower 并不增加或减少反应堆的功率输出。相反，它持续进行原子裂变，并将多余的热量储存在一个巨大的熔融钠罐中。

When power demand spikes, the power plant can tap that reservoir to generate more steam to spin the turbines. The expensive equipment keeps working even when demand is low, allowing the company to amortize its investment over more operational hours. 当电力需求激增时，发电厂可以利用该储能库产生更多的蒸汽来驱动涡轮机。即使在需求较低时，昂贵的设备也能持续运行，从而使公司能够在更多的运行时间内摊销其投资成本。

The approach takes the best of nuclear power — high capacity factor — and pairs it with an energy-storage technology that allows TerraPower to play nicely on a renewable-heavy grid or when connected to a data center. It’s a flexible approach that could give the startup an advantage in the race to power AI. 这种方法汲取了核能的优势——高容量系数，并将其与储能技术相结合，使 TerraPower 能够在以可再生能源为主的电网中，或在连接数据中心时表现出色。这是一种灵活的方法，可能使该初创公司在为人工智能供电的竞赛中占据优势。