back to article Amazon goes nuclear, acquires Cumulus Data's atomic datacenters for $650M

Amazon Web Services on Monday added a nuclear-powered datacenter campus to its public cloud empire as part of a $650 million deal with Talen Energy – an owner and operator of electricity generation and transmission facilities in the US. The acquisition will see AWS take possession of a datacenter complex named Cumulus that …

  1. Omnipresent Silver badge

    terminator lives

    Nuclear powered Amazon AI robots anyone?

    anyone,

    anyone,

    anyone?

    Bueller?

    1. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: terminator lives

      I think I saw that movie? I think it was called Active Terminator: Revenge of the SCSI Bus?

  2. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. jmch Silver badge

    Buy existing vs build new

    While it's great that Amazon is looking to expand it's access to renewable and carbon-free power, simply buying existing capacity makes zero net difference both environmentally and to the general power supply.... better build your own! Although one would expect in a free market environment that such purchases will encourage power providers to invest more into nuclear.

    1. Peter-Waterman1

      Re: Buy existing vs build new

      At least they are trying....Better than just buying the lowest cost, fossil fuel power

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Buy existing vs build new

        40 year old design that can melt down versus a new design that’s reasonably safe.

        We haven’t built a power plant since early 80s.

        This is not news worthy, this is pandering to press releases.

      2. hoola Silver badge

        Re: Buy existing vs build new

        That is debatable, buying most of the output of the new UK offshore windfarms does not help anyone other than Amazon.

        Amazon (or anyone else) making their data centres "green" at the expense of reducing existing carbon emissions is a complete farce. If Amazon are that keen on renewables then put solar panels on their distribution centres, add turbines if they can or guess what, use some of the billions the accumulate wot build their own wind farms.

  4. rcxb Silver badge
    Megaphone

    its 2.5 gigawatt Susquehanna nuclear power plant

    I love their chainsaws...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    40 year old nuclear plant.

    What’s up with this desperate need to gloat about nuclear power?

    The only thing they bought was property in a power grid and we are celebrating it??

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 40 year old nuclear plant.

      Nerds think they understand science if they promote nuclear power (or genetic engineering). It impresses their mother in law and they get cheap self esteem. In reality they're totally clueless. Delusion.

      The good thing is that now these data centers will be free to strike PPAs with whoever they want and that nuclear energy will be facing the ruthless market of cheap renewable. Time to wake up.

      1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
        Mushroom

        Re: 40 year old nuclear plant.

        facing the ruthless market of cheap renewable

        I think I once saw a documentary that featured a nuclear power plant run on a shooting budget. IIRC, it was called The Simpsons, after one of the operators at the plant, called Homer

      2. blackcat Silver badge

        Re: 40 year old nuclear plant.

        "the ruthless market of cheap renewable"

        Is that the market where companies are pulling out of projects and suppliers are warning of impending closures due to not being able to actually turn a profit?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: 40 year old nuclear plant.

          > Is that the market where companies are pulling out of projects and suppliers are warning of impending closures due to not being able to actually turn a profit?

          Correct. As I said: "ruthless".

          And the "not being able to actually turn a profit" should tell you that electricity is dirt cheap.

          It's a new market, so it's marked by volatility and it will take years before it stabilizes and consolidates. This is the kind of things one learns in economics. Remember when personal computers became a thing back in the 80s?

          1. blackcat Silver badge

            Re: 40 year old nuclear plant.

            "And the "not being able to actually turn a profit" should tell you that electricity is dirt cheap."

            What that tells me is that its more expensive than they want to admit. It isn't a new market, wind has been around for centuries and solar for more than 4 decades. If solar had evolved as much as PCs have in the same time I'd be able to power my house from a panel the size of a sheet of paper. The problem is that fundamental physics gets in the way.

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