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Google’s Kairos Power Deal: What Its First Nuclear Project Means

Google’s agreement with Kairos Power targets a future fleet of advanced reactors. Its first named project, Hermes 2, is expected to provide up to 50 MW through TVA, but it is not yet generating electricity.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read

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Google’s October 2024 agreement with Kairos Power set a path to develop multiple advanced nuclear plants, with a fleet target of up to 500 megawatts (MW) by 2035. The first named project, Hermes 2 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is a separate step: it is expected to provide up to 50 MW to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) grid, with operations scheduled to begin in 2030. Neither the fleet target nor Hermes 2’s planned output means the reactors are generating electricity today.

What Google agreed to—and what it did not

Google and Kairos Power announced a Master Plant Development Agreement on October 14, 2024. Kairos said it would develop, construct and operate a series of advanced reactor plants, selling energy, ancillary services and environmental attributes to Google under power purchase agreements. The plants were intended to be located in relevant service territories to support Google data centers.

Google described the arrangement as a way to add up to 500 MW of new, 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids, with an initial deployment intended by 2030 and additional deployments through 2035. That is a planned fleet scale—not the capacity of one plant and not electricity already being supplied. Google called the agreement a “world’s first”; Kairos described it more specifically as the first U.S. corporate agreement for multiple deployments of one advanced reactor design. Google’s October 2024 announcement and Kairos Power’s announcement lay out the companies’ descriptions.

The announcements do not establish the agreement’s price, total contract value, exact number of reactors in the eventual fleet or financial terms of Google’s commitment. The MW target alone does not reveal those terms.

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Hermes 2: the first named project

In August 2025, Google announced that Kairos and TVA had reached a power purchase agreement for Hermes 2, a demonstration plant planned for Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The arrangement assigns different roles to the utility and the technology customer: TVA purchases the plant’s electricity for its grid, while Google procures associated clean-energy attributes through TVA to support regional data-center goals. The announcement is for up to 50 MW, with operations scheduled to begin in 2030. It does not describe a dedicated wire carrying Hermes 2 power directly to Google’s data centers. Google’s announcement of the TVA arrangement explains the structure.

Hermes 2’s up-to-50-MW contribution is not the same as the 500-MW fleet target. It is the first identified project under the broader development pathway, and its planned electricity would enter TVA’s grid.

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How Kairos describes its reactor

Kairos calls its design a fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR). Its description pairs a molten fluoride-salt coolant with ceramic pebble-type fuel. Google says the system transfers heat to a steam turbine and operates at low pressure. These are descriptions of the proposed design; claims by the companies about safety, affordability or simpler construction should not be treated as demonstrated commercial operating results.

For more on the design and its development, see Kairos Power’s technology overview.

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Permits and groundbreaking are not the same as operation

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 2024 advanced-reactor highlights say it issued construction permits for the two Hermes 2 reactors on November 21, 2024. A construction permit authorizes construction under the applicable regulatory process; it is not an operating license. The Associated Press reported that further regulatory steps remained, including an operating-license application. The NRC’s 2024 highlights report records the permits, and AP’s coverage of the TVA arrangement describes outstanding steps.

Kairos reported that Hermes 2 broke ground on April 17, 2026. Its update describes a demonstration plant whose modules will be fabricated in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and assembled in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Groundbreaking is a construction milestone, not evidence that the plant is licensed to operate or generating power. Kairos Power’s groundbreaking update provides those project details.

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How the deal fits Google’s broader clean-energy activity

Kairos’s 2024 announcement quoted Google as having made more than 115 agreements totaling over 14 gigawatts (GW) of clean-energy generation capacity since 2010. That figure refers to Google’s wider clean-energy portfolio, not nuclear power alone. Kairos’s release is the source for the attributed figure.

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Key dates and capacity figures

Date or target What it means
October 14, 2024 Google and Kairos announced a development agreement for a potential series of plants. Google
November 21, 2024 The NRC issued construction permits for the two Hermes 2 reactors, according to its 2024 highlights. NRC report
August 18, 2025 Google announced the TVA agreement for Hermes 2: up to 50 MW, with operations scheduled for 2030. Google
April 17, 2026 Kairos reported that Hermes 2 had broken ground. Kairos Power
Up to 500 MW by 2035 Google’s stated target for the broader planned fleet, not Hermes 2 alone. Google

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