Meta Signs Historic Nuclear Energy Deals to Power Prometheus AI Supercluster [2026]

Key Takeaways

• Meta secured nuclear energy deals with Vistra, TerraPower, and Oklo totaling 6.6 GW by 2035

• AI data center electricity demand will more than double globally by 2030

• Small modular reactors represent a new approach to nuclear, but none are commercially operational in the U.S. yet

• Most of this power won't be available until the 2030s, creating a short-term energy crunch

• This is part of a broader trend of tech companies securing their own power supplies through nuclear energy

You know that moment when you're scrolling through your feed and suddenly... your phone feels warm? That's AI working behind the scenes. Now multiply that by about a billion devices, and you start to get a sense of the energy problem we're facing.

Meta just made a move that might change everything.

What Just Happened? (And Why Your Electric Bill Might Care)

Here's the deal, and it's a big one. Meta announced agreements with three nuclear power companies: Vistra, TerraPower, and Oklo, to secure electricity for its Prometheus AI supercluster being built in New Albany, Ohio.

We're talking about 6.6 gigawatts of power by 2035. To put that in perspective... that's enough electricity to power about 5 million homes. Or roughly the entire state of New Hampshire.

But before you think "okay, another tech deal", this one's different. Here's why.

The Three Power Players

Vistra: They're handling the immediate needs. Meta will purchase more than 2.1 gigawatts from two existing nuclear plants in Ohio, plus additional capacity from upgrades at facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

TerraPower: Bill Gates' baby. They're developing Natrium units that could generate up to 690 megawatts, with delivery targeted for 2032. This is next-gen stuff, think of it as Nuclear 2.0.

Oklo: Here's where it gets interesting. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman owns a 4.3% stake worth about $650 million. Their advanced nuclear campus in Pike County, Ohio could come online as early as 2030.

(Yeah... the timing of tech CEOs investing in nuclear power right before their companies sign massive energy deals? Let's just say the optics are... interesting.)

Why Nuclear? Why Now?

Look, I get it. When someone says "nuclear energy," you might think of mushroom clouds or Homer Simpson. But here's what's actually happening in data centers right now.

AI Is Eating Electricity Like Never Before

U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, accounting for more than 4% of the country's total electricity use. That's roughly equivalent to what Pakistan, an entire country of 240 million people, uses annually.

And it's about to get way worse (or better, depending on how you look at it).

By 2030, electricity demand from data centers worldwide is projected to more than double to around 945 terawatt-hours. AI will be the biggest driver of this surge.

Think about what that means for a second. Every time ChatGPT generates a response, every time you use AI to edit a photo, every time Meta's algorithms figure out what to show you next... that's real electricity. Real power plants. Real carbon emissions.

Unless...

The Solar Problem Nobody Talks About

Here's where renewable energy hits a wall. And trust me, I'm not anti-solar or anti-wind. But there's a fundamental problem:

AI doesn't sleep.

Your data center needs power at 3 AM when the sun isn't shining. It needs power during winter when days are short. It needs power during that weird week in spring when the wind just... stops.

Nuclear power plants provide firm baseload power, operating 24/7 regardless of weather conditions, with a capacity factor exceeding 92.5%, outperforming natural gas at 56% and renewables like wind at 35% and solar at 25%.

That's the difference. Solar and wind are amazing, when they work. Nuclear just... works. All the time.

Small Modular Reactors: Not Your Grandpa's Nuclear Plant

Okay, so here's where it gets cool (and I promise I'm not just a nuclear nerd... well, maybe a little).

Traditional nuclear plants take forever to build. We're talking 10-15 years. They cost billions upfront. And if something goes wrong during construction? You've got a $20 billion paperweight.

SMRs flip that entire model.

What Makes SMRs Different

Think of traditional nuclear plants like building a custom cathedral, each one unique, expensive, and prone to massive delays. SMRs are more like building cars on an assembly line.

They're modular (hence the name), which means:

• Built in factories, not on-site
• Smaller footprint (can fit places traditional plants can't)
• Faster to deploy (years instead of decades)
• Potentially cheaper as production scales up

The catch? None are commercially operational in the U.S. yet.

China's Linglong One small modular reactor is scheduled to begin commercial operations in the first half of 2026, which would make it the world's first commercial onshore SMR.

Yeah. China's beating us to market on this. If that doesn't light a fire under U.S. energy policy, I don't know what will.

The Prometheus Supercluster: What's Actually Being Built

Let's talk about what Meta's actually building in Ohio, because this isn't just another data center.

Prometheus was announced by Mark Zuckerberg in July as a 1-gigawatt data center cluster expected to come online in 2026. But here's the thing, 1 gigawatt is just the beginning.

To understand how massive this is... a typical large data center uses about 50-100 megawatts. Prometheus? It's 10-20 times bigger. This is what the industry calls a "hyperscale" facility.

And Meta isn't stopping there. They've also got "Hyperion" in the works, a rural Louisiana project that could scale to 5 gigawatts by 2028. That one's being powered by natural gas plants (for now), but you can bet they're thinking about nuclear there too.

Why Ohio?

Location matters more than you'd think. Ohio has:

• Existing nuclear infrastructure (the Vistra plants are already there)
• Grid access (you can't just plug a gigawatt facility into any old power line)
• Favorable regulations (some states make nuclear nearly impossible)
• Proximity to users (reduces latency for East Coast connections)

Plus... let's be honest. Land is cheaper in Ohio than Silicon Valley. When you're building something the size of multiple football fields, that matters.

The Bigger Picture: Tech's Nuclear Renaissance

Here's what's wild, Meta isn't alone. Like, at all.

The Nuclear Arms Race (But for Energy)

Microsoft: Signed a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy to revive the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, involving a $1.6 billion investment to restart the reactor dormant since 2019.

Google: Cut a deal with Kairos Power for SMRs, with the first reactor targeted for 2030.

Amazon: Working with Talen Energy on power from the Susquehanna Nuclear Generation Station.

There's a pattern here. And it's not subtle.

What This Means for the Industry

Goldman Sachs forecasts that 85-90 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity would be needed to meet all data center power demand growth expected by 2030.

Let that sink in. That's the equivalent of building roughly 90 traditional nuclear plants... in the next four years.

(Spoiler alert: That's not happening. Which is exactly why everyone's scrambling for existing capacity and betting on SMRs.)

The $100 Billion Question: Will This Actually Work?

Alright, real talk time. Because there are some serious questions here.

The Timeline Problem

Most of this power won't be available until the 2030s. Prometheus needs power in 2026. See the problem?

In the short term, Meta's relying on:

• Existing grid power (probably natural gas)
• The Vistra plants that are already operational
• Hope and prayers

The nuclear deals are about future-proofing, not solving today's problems.

The Economics Problem

Nobody's disclosing what these deals cost. But we're talking billions, maybe tens of billions, over the 20+ year contract terms.

Here's the bet Meta's making: AI will be so valuable in 10 years that spending billions on reliable, carbon-free power today makes sense.

They might be right. Or... this could be the 2020s equivalent of Google Fiber (remember when that was going to revolutionize internet access?).

The Regulatory Problem

Nuclear regulations in the U.S. are... intense. As they should be. But it means even "fast-tracked" projects take years.

Oklo's been working on regulatory approval for years. TerraPower keeps hitting delays. Even restarting Three Mile Island, a plant that already exists, is a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar process.

Can the industry move fast enough to meet AI's explosive growth? Honestly? Nobody knows.

What This Means for You (Yes, Actually You)

You might be thinking, "Cool story, but I'm not Mark Zuckerberg. Why should I care?"

Fair question. Here's why:

Your Electric Bill

In some regions, data centers already account for a significant portion of electricity demand, around 21% in Ireland, potentially 32% by 2026.

More demand on the grid = higher prices for everyone. Unless we add more supply (like, say, nuclear plants).

Your Internet Experience

If tech companies can't secure enough power, they'll slow down AI development. Which might actually be fine by you... or it might mean slower innovation in tools you actually use.

Your Climate Future

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Right now, natural gas and coal together are expected to meet over 40% of additional electricity demand from data centers through 2030.

That's... not great for climate goals. The nuclear option, assuming it works, could change that math significantly.

The Contrarian Take: What If This All Goes Wrong?

Let's play devil's advocate for a second.

Scenario 1: AI Winter - What if AI doesn't live up to the hype? What if demand plateaus? Then tech companies are stuck with massive, expensive nuclear contracts they don't need.

Scenario 2: SMRs Flop - What if small modular reactors don't deliver on their promises? What if they're just as expensive and slow as traditional nuclear?

Scenario 3: Alternative Breakthrough - What if fusion energy suddenly becomes viable? Or battery technology makes solar + storage actually work for baseload? Then all these nuclear investments look premature.

These are real risks. And Meta's betting billions that they won't materialize.

What Happens Next: The 2026-2030 Timeline

Here's what to watch for:

2026:

• Prometheus comes online (using existing grid power)
• First SMR tests in U.S. facilities
• More tech company nuclear deals announced

2027-2028:

• Three Mile Island restart (if successful)
• Meta's Constellation Energy deal begins delivering power
• Vistra plant upgrades complete

2030:

• Oklo's Ohio campus potentially operational
• First Kairos Power SMRs for Google
• Multiple other SMR projects in testing

2032-2035:

• TerraPower's Natrium units come online
• Full 6.6 GW capacity potentially available
• Industry learns if this whole strategy actually worked

The Bottom Line: A Bet on the Future

Meta just committed billions to a technology that doesn't exist at commercial scale yet, to power AI systems that might or might not deliver on their promise, over a timeline that spans the next decade.

That's either visionary... or reckless. Maybe both.

But here's what I think is actually happening: Tech companies are taking energy security into their own hands. They've realized they can't just rely on the grid as it exists. They can't wait for regulators and utilities to figure it out.

So they're building, or buying, their own power plants.

That's a fundamental shift in how tech infrastructure works. And whether you're excited or terrified by that probably says more about your worldview than anything else.

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What Do You Think?

Is Meta's nuclear bet genius or madness? Are we witnessing the beginning of a clean energy revolution... or just tech companies throwing money at the next shiny thing?

Drop a comment below with your take. And if you found this breakdown helpful, share it with someone who's as obsessed with the intersection of tech and energy as we are.

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Sources & Further Reading

• Meta's Official Announcement
• International Energy Agency: Energy and AI Report
• Goldman Sachs: Nuclear Energy Analysis
• Pew Research: Data Center Energy Use