this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2025

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166

AI data centers may soon be powered by retired US Navy nuclear reactors from aircraft carriers and submarines (www.tomshardware.com)

submitted 1 day ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to c/technology@lemmy.zip

50 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This is a much cheaper and faster way to get nuclear power.

top 50 comments

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[–] Devworker@lemmy.world 10 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Do the people that think this a good idea just not see how fast they are trying to prop up new AI datacenters?

Corners are being cut everywhere to get these things built so quickly

I honestly wouldn't even trust them with to make their own power safely even with things like hydro, wind or geothermal

But fucking nuclear of all things?

They know it would take decades to build the actual nuclear power plants to run everything so they decid to instead try buying nuclear power generators that are already several decades old

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 hours ago

Everything about project certainty and costs is a lie here.

Moving reactors to somewhere permanent that isn't prime waterfront dock space, reactors past their design life, is simply not realistic. Low ball cost estimates with loan guarantees is the typical nuclear energy boondoggle.

These are just the initial cost estimates over decommission process, but if it were feasible, part of initial design, this wouldn't be an "afterthought scam".

[–] falseWhite@programming.dev 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

What's the worst that could happen? Elon or Zucker getting blown up by one while opening their brand new data center?

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm just a former Navy Nuke, but I see a major issue with this. Namely, by the time we retire ship-board nuclear reactors, they have been absorbing neutrons and radiation for 30 years, so the steel is weak enough that you could put a ball-peen hammer through it.

[–] dass93@lemmy.zip 2 points 11 hours ago

But then we just dick a hole if there happens anything.

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

The wiki on radiation embrittlement is pretty good reading for any mechanical engineers out there: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_embrittlement

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is a much cheaper and faster way to get nuclear power.

Is this "journalist" an industry plant?

[–] cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 hours ago

Literally every single one saying anything good about this shit is.

[–] eleitl@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago

What could possibly go wrong?

[–] Zer0_F0x@lemmy.world 51 points 1 day ago (3 children)

So I got a job at this company back in the day that did phone and email customer service for other companies.

I was one of the last people they ever hired. Me and 7 other people were shown to our cubicles that had brand new Dell sff computers and peripherals in their boxes.

We were told the IT guys were off or on sick leave and I offered to try and set the machines up at least to save time. With the help of the others we plugged everything in and then kinda sat there all day doing nothing.

Next day we all show up for work and we see people carrying boxes out of the building. Turns out the owner was neck deep in debt and just dissappeared, people were told they shouldn't be expecting any more paychecks or bother suing.

Basically the manager told everyone to just sort of take whatever they want home and everyone just took their work PC home. Me and 7 other people basically got a free PC for half a day's work, others got shafted though...

All I'm trying to say here is maybe DON'T SELL NUCLEAR AIRCRAFT CARRIER REACTORS to private companies that are 100% going to go tits up soon when yet another tech bubble bursts and those reactors end up being sold on AliExpress?

[–] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Stop worrying.

It's all fine. It'll stay fine.

Look, I don't know much about nuclear reactors, but I do know when you jam some plutonium in some stuff steam comes out and goes brrrr.

Does that sound like something dangerous? Dangerous things don't go brrrrr.

Steam is just water. Do you hate water? Hydrophobes like you make me sick.

How else am I supposed to get 3d models of giant titted anime waifus that will say filthy things to me while crank my hog?

Nuclear reactors go brrrrr. My hog goes brrrrrr. Anime waifus go brrrrrr. See? Totally safe.

Also, not to be pedantic, but it's spelled nookyalurr.

[–] cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 hours ago

Sounds like you just hate freedom and progress.

[–] Eh_I@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No problem, got my eyes on a Trident missile.

[–] eleitl@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Make sure to get the PAL code for the nuke, too.

[–] Eh_I@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I got an old NES GameGenie around here somewhere we can hack it with. We can hook it up to an AI! No... I can hook it up to an AI. Power over life and death feels like a toy. My toy.

[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 41 points 1 day ago (6 children)

They should be forced to make their own clean power plants. No clean coal, no natural gas. Only renewable since it is a guarantee that they will leave 100% of the cost of the nuclear disposal to the taxpayers.

[–] TheOakTree@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Even the clean energy supplied datacenters will heavily pollute the water used to cool it. So, even if we do that, we should still be pushing to reduce the amount of datacenters being built right now...

[–] iloveDigit@piefed.social 2 points 3 hours ago

It is also a guarantee they will not handle disposal safely

[–] punksnotdead@slrpnk.net 3 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Nuclear energy is a con
It's just a cover for making their bombs
And it sends people to an early grave
So we want the power of the wind and the waves

Harness the wind
Harness the waves
We don't need this filthy nuclear waste
Solar power - yet another alternative
Think of the boundless energy the sun has to give
Then there's hydro-electricity with turbines and dams
And we can cut our consumption with conservation programmes

Harness the wind
The sun the waves
We don't need this filthy nuclear waste
The civil atomic energy programmes is nothing but an elaborate cover-up for the real use of nuclear power namely the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons
We call for an end to the nuclear power programmes and properly funded research into renewable sources of energy

Harness the wind
The sun the waves
We don't need this filthy nuclear waste

https://youtu.be/DjF6g51GHng

[–] KoloradoKoolAid75@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 2 minutes ago

Thanks for introducing me to this banger comrade!

[–] deforestgump@hexbear.net 12 points 1 day ago

You underestimate the fact that all of these tech CEOs are in a death cult.

[+] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world -12 points 1 day ago (3 children)

they will leave 100% of the cost of the nuclear disposal to the taxpayers.

As opposed to the military handling disposal of the reactor materials... which is paid by... the taxpayers.

You didn't think this comment through every much, or at all really, did you?

[–] punksnotdead@slrpnk.net 3 points 21 hours ago

I think this song epitomises what rafoix replied with

Safety rules - corners cut
Just to keep the profits up
Money saved - profits rise
But consequence is someone dies

Victim of a chemical spillage

Safety regulations breached
Critical concentrations reached
Money is saved but a live is lost
Loved ones left to count the cost

Tanker crashing the village
Death could from the spillage
No escape from the fumes
Peoples' homes become their tombs

In the face of corporate greed
Ecodefence is what we need
Read and act upon this text
Or you become the next victim of a chemical spillage

https://youtu.be/Q3sHdN4f_TI

[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I trust the military doing it to spec a million times more than any company executives. It’ll probably be left to pollute the area they hide it for decades before taxpayers have to pay for it.

[–] teft@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

The military probably will do better than a private company but also remember that the military has had numerous toxic waste problems. Camp Lejeune’s cancers and all the firefighting PFAs contaminating water supplies are just two i can think of off the top of my head but i’m sure theres many more.

[–] BussyCat@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

The DOE doing it is already financially accounted for and there is a professional staff that are trained on how to do it

[+] ryannathans@aussie.zone -6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What renewables can they use for 24/7 high levels of power requirements?

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 hours ago

Even though wind has higher capacity factors in most places, solar is more reliable.

Its a myth that ai datacenters need constant power. Inference uses less than training. And more queries happen during day than night. Less cooling power needed at night.

It is especially easy to build solar that will export to grid more than import throughout year, but it is also easy to be off grid, and store cooling for night, and for winter, and to not run max load in winter, or share grid imports in winter for regions with non electric heating. Share surpluses in 3 seasons.

[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 28 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I don’t give a shit. That should be their problem not ours.

If they’re too dumb to figure it out, they’re too dumb to make AI profitable.

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don’t give a shit. That should be their problem not ours.

This should be everyone's reaction when faced with "but how will [company] profit with [X] ?" questions.

[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago

It’s a bunch of indoctrination brainrot where all they ever think about is being of service to the wealthy.

[–] rimu@piefed.social 6 points 1 day ago

Maybe they should ask ChatGPT.

[–] SassySerf@thriv.social -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They can afford the higher cost of electricity, but the rest of us can't, if they can add nuclear reactors to the power grid then it will drive the prices for normal people down so that it's nearly free.

[–] rafoix@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

You actually think they would lower the cost of electricity. Other than naivety, what evidence do you have that will show us how benevolent tech bros are?

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And who will pay for the disposal and storage of the waste produced?

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago

Us of course. With the small 's'.

[–] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fallout is actually gonna happen before we get HL3

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Definitely before we get fallout 5.

[–] invertedspear@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Has MS done anything with all the IPs they bought over the last 10v or so years? I haven’t seen anything new in an old IP that’s excited me in the gaming world.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I honestly couldn't tell you, they've bought so many...

[–] potatopotato@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Ah yes, let's give rich people weapons grade uranium (what these compact reactors run on)

[–] Transform2942@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Just FYI reactor grade uranium is generally enriched below 5% whereas weapons grade is enriched to ~85%

[–] potatopotato@sh.itjust.works 4 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Aircraft carriers don't use reactor grade, they use HEU for more power out of smaller more compact reactors and less frequent refueling. IIRC 93%+ is common.

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

Yes. The new scam of smr is selling something inferior that hasn't failed yet, but needs massive enrichment infrastrucure for very high comparative fuel costs.... Mostly imported from russia until we build more failures to enrich it.

[–] Transform2942@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago

Huh didn't know that, thanks

[–] BussyCat@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Weapons grade uranium is so expensive and energy intensive to make that I can’t imagine they would ever pay for it and the fuel is at end of life so would need refueling soon.

The navy likely puts a safety margin on the fuel so there is probably some life left in the fuel but I would be very surprised if it lasted more than a year or two which is where I am confused on how this would work

[–] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Oh good. I was hoping we’d find a way for AI to consume more water.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 day ago

What if we put the AI in the ocean

[–] Rambomst@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

It's a Christmas miracle!

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago

And all the brave men and women of the various branches of the armed forces can just dance and juggle for the mighty king! Yey!