Amazon shared some new details about its plans to help deploy more nuclear energy across Washington State, where the company is headquartered.
About a year ago, Amazon announced an agreement with Energy Northwest, a consortium of public utilities in Washington, to support the development of up to 12 advanced reactors by the early 2030s. Once complete, Amazon would have the right to purchase electricity from the first 320-megawatt phase of the project. The additional capacity would be open to Amazon and local utilities to use.
What’s different about these reactors is that they’re small and modular, which is supposed to make them cheaper and easier to deploy than America’s existing fleet of nuclear power plants. Amazon shared several rendered images today of what the first plant might look like outside of Richland, Washington. Called the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, it’ll include three sections with a combined capacity of 960 megawatts, about enough electricity to power 770,000 homes in the US. While an old-school reactor with about the same capacity might spread across more than a square mile of land, according to Amazon, Cascade is expected to take up just a few city blocks.
Amazon’s blog post today says that the Cascade facility should create about 100 permanent jobs, as well as more than 1,000 construction jobs. Considering these next-generation reactors are still under development and have to go through a licensing process, construction isn’t expected to start until the end of the decade.
This is an exciting development! The Cascade Advanced Energy Facility looks promising and could pave the way for innovative energy solutions. It’s great to see companies investing in sustainable technology.
Absolutely! It’s great to see Amazon investing in innovative energy solutions. The facility’s focus on advanced nuclear technology could significantly contribute to reducing carbon emissions, which is crucial for a sustainable future.
on advanced nuclear technology is particularly exciting. It could lead to significant advancements in sustainable energy production. Plus, this might pave the way for other companies to explore similar clean energy initiatives.
Absolutely, the potential for advanced nuclear technology to provide clean and reliable energy is fascinating. It’s also interesting to consider how facilities like the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility could impact local economies and job creation in the renewable energy sector.