The Department of Energy will consider the potential return to the government when it weighs proposals for developing data centers and power plants around the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, a DOE official said during a virtual meeting Wednesday.
DOE will be looking at the “financial capability” of the applicants, Marla Larson-Williams of Oak Ridge National Laboratory said in discussing a recently-recently solicitation for artificial intelligence data centers and accompanying power projects. In addition, DOE wants a schedule that is aggressive but achievable, Williams said.
The Wednesday afternoon industry day presentation provided potential vendors with details about a request for proposal (RFP) process for artificial intelligence-related data centers at the federal complex.
Participants heard from various DOE managers, Tennessee and local economic development executives and members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation.
DOE announced in July it was initially considering four nuclear campuses as potential hosts to data centers, something that is a priority for the Donald Trump White House.
Then two weeks ago, DOE released an RFP seeking companies interested in building and powering AI-related data centers at Oak Ridge. Proposals are due by Dec. 1.
A two-minute video provides details on the two sites at Oak Ridge being offered for data center use. The first site is 95 acres and is controlled by DOE’s Office of Science. The second is about 150 acres altogether and is overseen by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
During the meeting, DOE officials said the first site, near Oak Ridge National Laboratory, might be more ready to accommodate data center development. The second has a few more historic preservation restrictions, according to the DOE speakers.
The tracts are close to major public roads, electric and natural gas infrastructure as well as new nuclear projects being pursued by companies such as Kairos Power, DOE said. DOE hopes that small modular reactors can power some new data centers on federal sites.