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Google and Elementl Power announced a strategic agreement on May 7, 2025, to advance three potential U.S. advanced-nuclear sites. Elementl is targeting at least 600 megawatts at each site—at least 1.8 gigawatts by simple arithmetic—but none of that capacity was operating, permitted, financed for construction, or guaranteed when the agreement was announced. Google is providing early-stage development capital and has an option for commercial offtake if projects are completed; the announcement did not disclose a binding power-purchase agreement for the three sites.
That distinction matters for anyone assessing the deal’s infrastructure or business significance: this is a siting and project-development commitment, not evidence that Google has begun building three reactors.
What Google and Elementl actually announced
The agreement gives Elementl capital to prepare and evaluate three potential U.S. locations for advanced-nuclear projects. Each project is intended to support at least 600 MW. Elementl will work with utilities, regulated power partners, technology suppliers and other participants as the projects move through development.
Google receives an option for commercial offtake once completed projects are available. The public announcement does not identify the three locations, a final reactor design, an engineering or construction contractor, a utility owner, a construction-start date or a commercial-operation date. Google’s announcement and Elementl’s announcement describe development work rather than construction.
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Is Google building three nuclear plants?
Not on the evidence publicly available. Google is acting as an early-stage capital provider and possible future electricity customer. Elementl describes itself as the project developer and independent power producer. The agreement is intended to make sites, partners and project structures viable; it does not announce that construction has started.
What is committed
- Early-stage development capital from Google.
- Advancement of three potential U.S. sites.
- A stated target of at least 600 MW per site.
- Google’s option to pursue commercial offtake after completion.
What is not publicly committed
- A named site or sites.
- A selected reactor technology.
- A binding 1.8-GW electricity purchase agreement.
- Final investment decisions, construction permits or a schedule for operation.
“Google backs” is therefore accurate. “Google is building three nuclear plants” is too definitive.
Why Google is pursuing nuclear power
Google says its operations and growing data-center demand, including artificial-intelligence workloads, require reliable electricity around the clock. Advanced nuclear could complement variable renewable generation in a strategy aimed at 24/7 carbon-free energy, according to Google.
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The Elementl announcement does not say that a reactor would connect by private wire to a particular Google data center. The eventual arrangement could be utility-mediated, and the delivery structure remains unspecified. A future offtake option is not the same as a dedicated physical supply contract.
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Elementl presents itself as a technology-agnostic developer of utility-scale advanced-nuclear projects. Its stated work covers site identification and feasibility, technology evaluation, offtaker sourcing, environmental assessment, financing and project structuring, utility partnership and interconnection, licensing and permitting, engineering-procurement-construction coordination, construction management and operations oversight. See Elementl’s development description.
Elementl says it was founded in 2022 by U.S. Navy nuclear engineers and energy-finance professionals, and that CEO Chris Colbert previously held a senior role at NuScale Power. Those are company-provided background claims. Its homepage says the company is targeting more than 10 GW online in the United States by 2035 through the announced program and more than 100 GW of new U.S. clean electricity enabled by 2050. These are company goals, not independently verified operating capacity.
What “technology-agnostic” means
Elementl has not publicly selected a reactor design for the three Google-backed sites. The U.S. Department of Energy said final site confirmation and technology selection remained subject to further development milestones in its May 22, 2025 account.
Keeping the choice open lets a developer compare designs with different fuels, coolants, outputs, licensing paths and construction requirements. It may avoid committing too early to a vendor whose design or schedule changes. It also postpones important answers: the selected reactor affects the safety case, cooling system, exclusion boundaries, fuel supply, waste strategy and grid requirements. The three sites could ultimately use different technologies.
Where are the proposed sites?
The locations were not publicly identified in the Google-Elementl announcement. DOE described them only as three U.S. sites and said confirmation was still pending additional milestones.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, should not be attributed to this program. Oak Ridge is the publicly identified location for Hermes 2, a separate Kairos Power project under Google’s arrangement with the Tennessee Valley Authority, described here.
How nuclear developers screen sites
DOE says Elementl uses a proprietary, multi-criteria framework to screen dozens of candidate locations and worked with Oak Ridge National Laboratory using OR-SAGE, a data-driven nuclear-siting tool. A serious evaluation normally considers:
- Transmission proximity and available grid capacity.
- Cooling-water access or feasible alternative cooling.
- Seismic, flooding, extreme-weather and geological conditions.
- Population density and emergency-planning implications.
- Industrial infrastructure, roads, rail and construction access.
- Fuel and component supply chains.
- State and local political support.
- Land-use, environmental and cultural-resource constraints.
- Potential nearby data-center or industrial demand.
- Licensing and interconnection schedules.
Finding suitable land is only an early filter. A site must also support a licensable design, a financeable project, an acceptable grid connection and a workable community and regulatory process.
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What the 1.8-GW figure means
| Measure | Status |
|---|---|
| Nameplate target | At least 1,800 MW, inferred from three projects targeting at least 600 MW each |
| Current generation | Zero from these proposed Elementl projects |
| Permitted capacity | Not established in the announcements |
| Technology | Not publicly selected |
| Financial close | Not announced |
| Construction | Not announced as started |
| Commercial-operation date | Not announced |
The 1.8-GW number is a development target, not delivered electricity or committed generating capacity. “At least” also means the eventual licensed or delivered output could differ.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Elementl versus Google’s separate Kairos program
| Issue | Elementl agreement | Kairos agreement |
|---|---|---|
| Announcement | May 7, 2025 | October 14, 2024 |
| Google’s role | Early-stage capital provider and potential offtaker | Corporate customer in a multi-reactor deployment agreement |
| Scale | Three potential sites, each targeting at least 600 MW | Up to 500 MW across multiple Kairos reactors |
| Technology | Not publicly selected; Elementl is technology-agnostic | Kairos fluoride-salt-cooled technology using pebble-type ceramic fuel |
| First identified project | None publicly identified | Hermes 2 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee |
| Near-term date | No operating date announced | Hermes 2 operations scheduled for 2030 |
| Utility arrangement | To be developed with utility and regulated-power partners | TVA has a power-purchase agreement for Hermes 2 |
Google’s first publicly announced advanced-nuclear electricity purchase arrangement is the separate Kairos-TVA project, not the Elementl sites. Details of the Kairos program are in Google’s October 2024 announcement and Kairos Power’s program page.
What must happen before these become power plants
- Name and confirm sites: complete screening, site characterization and public or regulatory processes.
- Select a reactor: establish the design, fuel, cooling and safety basis for each project.
- Secure partners: identify utilities, owners, suppliers, engineering-procurement-construction firms and fuel providers.
- Obtain approvals: advance interconnection, environmental reviews and Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing.
- Arrange financing and offtake: reach a bankable project structure and definitive electricity contracts.
- Make final investment decisions: commit capital, issue construction contracts and obtain required permits.
- Build and commission: construct, test and license the facility before commercial operation.
What could help the plan—and what could stop it
Potential advantages
- Google can fund early work that utilities may be reluctant to finance alone.
- A large prospective customer may strengthen the commercial case.
- A three-site portfolio can provide more than one development path.
- Technology neutrality allows comparison before a final commitment.
- Firm nuclear generation could support data-center loads alongside renewables.
The portfolio and commercial benefits are analytical implications of the structure, not guarantees.
Material risks
- Licensing: advanced designs may face regulatory delays or changing requirements.
- Technology: no final reactor has been announced for these sites.
- Construction: first-of-a-kind projects can experience cost and schedule overruns.
- Financing: development capital does not ensure a final investment decision.
- Interconnection: a good site may lack timely transmission access.
- Fuel: some designs depend on specialized fuel supply chains.
- Community and politics: local acceptance and state approvals can determine whether a site proceeds.
- Offtake: Google’s option does not guarantee that Google will purchase all output.
- Demand: data-center growth could change the timing, location or scale of required power.
- Portfolio execution: three candidates may not all reach construction.
Milestones that would show real progress
Readers tracking the program should look for named sites, final technology selections, utility and interconnection agreements, NRC licensing activity, environmental reviews, engineering and construction contracts, fuel-supply commitments, financing or final investment decisions, construction permits, groundbreaking and definitive commercial offtake agreements. Until those milestones appear, the program remains an early-stage development pipeline.
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The Bottom Line
Google is helping Elementl prepare three potential advanced-nuclear projects, each targeting at least 600 MW. The resulting at-least-1.8-GW figure is proposed capacity, not operating or permitted generation, and Google’s announced offtake right is not a disclosed binding power-purchase agreement. The deal is significant as a financing-and-development bet for firm power, but it is not yet a construction announcement.
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