Kairos Power gets up to $100M from Samsung group to build nuclear reactor for Google

Kairos Power 获得三星集团高达 1 亿美元投资，将为谷歌建造核反应堆

Kairos Power has picked engineering firm Samsung C&T to help build its 50-megawatt demonstration reactor for Google, which the nuclear startup is aiming to have completed by 2030. As part of the deal, Samsung C&T will make an equity investment in Kairos and provide “in-kind” engineering services, the combination of which is worth up to $100 million, Kairos Power said Monday. The equity investment will make up $70 million of the total, a Kairos spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Kairos Power 已选择工程公司三星物产（Samsung C&T）协助其为谷歌建造一座 50 兆瓦的示范反应堆，这家核能初创公司计划在 2030 年前完成该项目。Kairos Power 周一表示，作为协议的一部分，三星物产将对 Kairos 进行股权投资并提供“实物”工程服务，两者总价值高达 1 亿美元。Kairos 发言人向 TechCrunch 透露，其中股权投资占总额的 7000 万美元。

Samsung C&T has built or helped build about a dozen nuclear reactors around the globe. Kairos is part of a wave of nuclear startups that have benefited from the surge in power demand from AI data centers. Google first signed a deal with the company in fall 2024, calling on Kairos to build nuclear reactors capable of generating about half a gigawatt of electricity by 2035.

三星物产在全球范围内已建造或协助建造了约十几座核反应堆。Kairos 是受益于人工智能数据中心电力需求激增的核能初创企业浪潮中的一员。谷歌于 2024 年秋季首次与该公司签署协议，要求 Kairos 在 2035 年前建造能够产生约 0.5 吉瓦电力的核反应堆。

Currently, Kairos is building two reactors in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The first, Hermes 1, is a low-power demonstrator that will help the company refine its commercial design. The second, Hermes 2, is Kairos’ first commercial-scale reactor. Output from Hermes will count as the first 50 megawatts of its deal with Google. The startup received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late 2024 to build the reactors. It expects Hermes 2 to begin operating in 2030, in line with its original agreement with Google.

目前，Kairos 正在田纳西州橡树岭建造两座反应堆。第一座 Hermes 1 是一个低功率示范堆，将帮助公司完善其商业设计。第二座 Hermes 2 是 Kairos 的首个商业规模反应堆。Hermes 的输出功率将计入其与谷歌协议的前 50 兆瓦。该初创公司于 2024 年底获得美国核管理委员会（NRC）的建造许可。公司预计 Hermes 2 将于 2030 年投入运营，这与此前与谷歌达成的协议一致。

Hermes 2 will be a fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor, a design that has been floated for years but never built at commercial scale. Fluoride salts have high boiling points, which will help keep pressure levels low. That, in turn, will limit the risk of high-pressure blowouts in case of any parts failures.

Hermes 2 将采用氟盐冷却高温反应堆技术，这种设计虽已被提出多年，但从未在商业规模上建造过。氟盐具有高沸点，有助于保持较低的压力水平。反过来，这也将降低在发生任何部件故障时出现高压喷发的风险。

Kairos is also using a relatively new form of nuclear fuel known as TRISO, which encapsulates tiny seeds of uranium fuel in layers of ceramic and carbon, which are then loaded into billiard ball-sized spheres. The arrangement is intended to prevent meltdowns.

Kairos 还使用了一种相对较新的核燃料，即 TRISO（三结构同向性颗粒燃料）。它将微小的铀燃料颗粒封装在陶瓷和碳层中，然后装入台球大小的球体里。这种布置旨在防止堆芯熔毁。

The startup has about five years to get its first power plant up and running, which is an accelerated but manageable timeline in the nuclear industry. To fulfill the terms of its deal with Google, Kairos will need to move even faster on subsequent reactors, something Samsung C&T might be able to help with.

这家初创公司大约有五年时间来启动其首座发电厂，在核工业领域，这是一个紧凑但可控的时间表。为了履行与谷歌的协议条款，Kairos 需要在后续反应堆的建设上加快进度，而三星物产或许能在这方面提供帮助。