The U.S. Department of Energy is looking for developers that want to build artificial intelligence data centers — and the power generation to run them — on two nuclear sites.
On Sept. 30, DOE issued a request for private-sector proposals at its Oak Ridge Reservation, and the National Nuclear Security Administration issued an RFP for its Savannah River Site.
The selection of Oak Ridge and Savannah River for this purpose was announced July 24 as part of the Trump administration’s drive for AI and “energy dominance.” Also selected were the Idaho National Laboratory and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
On Sept. 8, the Idaho lab announced a request for applications that can be submitted starting Nov. 7.
Proposals are due Dec. 1 for Oak Ridge and Dec. 5 for Savannah River.
Each of the three announcements indicated private-sector partners would be responsible for building, operating and decommissioning their facilities under a long-term lease and for securing utility interconnection. Each indicated that proposals would be evaluated for technological readiness, financial viability, and the details of their plans to complete regulatory and permitting requirements.
A DOE official called the Oak Ridge RFP a step in the transformation of a nuclear remediation site into a nuclear renaissance hub.
An NNSA official called the Savannah River RFP a public-private partnership to accelerate scientific research in pursuit of technology and energy goals. Ten tracts totaling 3,103 acres have been identified there for energy generation and storage co-located with data centers.
Another DOE official said potential uses for approximately 44,000 acres at Idaho include advanced nuclear and enhanced geothermal generation and cold underground thermal storage.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said July 24 that Idaho, Oak Ridge, Paducah and Savannah River “are uniquely positioned to host data centers as well as power generation to bolster grid reliability, strengthen our national security and reduce energy costs.”
Funding Announcements
The Oak Ridge and Savannah River announcements were among a series issued late Sept. 30 by DOE.
The department announced it will reallocate up to $365 million to stabilize and harden grid infrastructure in Puerto Rico. It said the island territory has suffered from years of deferred maintenance and mismanagement, leaving ratepayers vulnerable to outages and higher costs, including from storms. DOE’s Grid Deployment Office will administer the funding for the upgrades through the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
The DOE Loan Programs Office, meanwhile, has restructured an October 2024 deal with Lithium Americas to help fund construction of processing facilities at Thacker Pass, Nev., site of the largest confirmed lithium deposit in North America. The terms give the U.S. government a 5% equity ownership of Lithium Americas and a 5% share of the company’s joint venture with General Motors, both in the form of warrants.
The department said the revised deal reduces repayment risk for taxpayers and increases loan resilience; it did not indicate any change to the value of the loan, which Lithium Americas and the Loan Programs Office placed at $2.26 billion in October 2024.
DOE also selected Oklo, Terrestrial Energy, TRISO-X and Valar Atomics for a program to build advanced nuclear fuel production lines. They join Standard Nuclear, which was announced in August.
The five will work in the department’s Fuel Line Pilot Program, which supports the Reactor Pilot Program. Together, the pilot programs are pursuing one of the goals in President Donald Trump’s broader vision of a U.S. nuclear renaissance: reaching criticality with at least three advanced nuclear reactor concepts outside of National Laboratories by July 4, 2026.
Oklo, Terrestrial and Valar also were selected for the Reactor Pilot Program.
