A group that is a vocal critic of the Department of Energy and the nuclear industry in South Carolina said last week it has many questions about federal plans to develop a data center at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, S.C.
DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said last week it plans to build a data center and has chosen Amentum to enter into lease negotiations for the project.
“Well, we gotta throw a bucket of cold water on this half-baked proposal,” Savannah River Site Watch said in its own July 20 release. “Looks like another attempt by DOE to drive policy by a news release.”
In NNSA’s announcement, it said the data center for artificial intelligence (AI) would initially be fueled by electricity from natural gas, but would at some point in the future transition to nuclear power.
“First, just who is Amentum?” SRS Watch said, referring to the Virginia-based government contractor active in the DOE weapons complex. “Who would build any gas plant? Who would build nuclear units & what model(s)? Would they compete with Dominion & Santee Cooper? “
Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper are the owners of South Carolina’s existing nuclear power plants.
“Who pays for all this? What is the role of the SC PSC [the South Carolina Public Service Commission],” according to the SRS Watch news release.
SRS Watch is headed by director Tom Clements, who told Exchange Monitor late last week he is leaving on an international trip.
In December procurement documents, NNSA said there is ample available land and electric transmission lines at SRS to accommodate a data center and on-site power generation.
In addition to Savannah River, DOE has already announced plans for a data center at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and one is widely expected to be in the works for the Paducah Site in Kentucky.