A state built on TVA dams now faces a second electric century — one measured in gigawatts of compute. Here's the math behind Tennessee's bid to power the AI era with advanced nuclear.
Read the full article →U.S. data centers drew 176 terawatt-hours in 2023 — already 4.4% of national consumption. By 2028 the EIA's range runs as high as 12%. Of a projected 176 GW of new demand by 2035, AI alone accounts for 123 GW.
The case for reform, in two power plants. Same technology, half a century apart — and a permitting regime that turned a billion-dollar, five-year project into a fourteen-year, thirty-billion-dollar one.
That's a 2.8× longer timeline and a 30× higher bill — not because the physics changed, but because the process did.
xAI's Colossus secured ~150 MW of grid access in Memphis, with an estimated full load of 200–300 MW — by itself more than 10× Oak Ridge's Frontier supercomputer (21 MW). Nuclear already supplies roughly half of Tennessee's electricity.
There are 74 small modular reactors in development globally. Tennessee's edge is regulatory speed — these are the levers the authors propose pulling.
Adopt uniform standards so new generation can plug in without bespoke, multi-year negotiations.
Create a single accountable office to shepherd advanced reactor projects through the state.
Compress environmental review timelines for advanced reactors without lowering the bar.
Prioritize permitting at existing generation sites already wired into the grid.
Support NRC modernization so federal licensing keeps pace with state ambition.