Meta announced three arrangements today to offer nuclear electricity to its data centers: one from a startup, one from a smaller energy firm, and one from a larger company that already operates numerous nuclear reactors in the United States.

Oklo and TerraPower, two businesses developing small modular reactors (SMR), have both inked agreements with Meta to build several reactors, while Vistra is selling capacity from its existing power facilities.

Nuclear power has been a preferred power source for tech companies as their AI goals have risen, offering consistent 24/7 electricity. Startups and established reactors have benefited from the hunt for data center power, albeit in different ways.

Existing reactors are typically the most cost-effective source of baseload capacity, but there are only so many of them, prompting Meta and its rivals to pursue SMR startups. Companies such as Oklo and TerraPower believe that by developing a large number of smaller reactors, they will be able to reduce costs through mass manufacturing. It is a viable hypothesis, but one that has yet to be tested. Meta’s transaction may provide an opportunity for SMR companies to prove themselves.

Meta launched a request for bids in December 2024, looking for partners that might add 1 to 4 gigawatts of generating capacity by the early 2030s. The accords are the result of the request. Much of the new power will be routed through the PJM interconnection, a grid that serves 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states and has become overloaded with data centers.

The 20-year arrangement with Vistra will have the greatest immediate impact on Meta’s energy requirements. The technology company will purchase 2.1 gigawatts from two existing nuclear power reactors in Ohio: Perry and Davis-Besse.

As part of the agreement, Vistra will increase capacity at those power facilities as well as its Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania. The enhancements will create an additional 433 MW and are set to go online in the early 2030s.

Meta is also purchasing 1.2 gigawatts from young provider Oklo. Under its agreement with Meta, Oklo hopes to begin producing power to the grid as early as 2030. The SMR firm went public through SPAC in 2023, and while Oklo secured a big deal with data center operator Switch, it has failed to persuade the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license its reactor design.

If Oklo can meet their deadlines, the new reactors will be built in Pike County, Ohio. To complete Meta’s request, the business will need to build more than a dozen Aurora Powerhouse reactors, each of which produces 75 megawatts of electricity.

TerraPower, a business co-founded by Bill Gates, plans to start beaming electricity to Meta as early as 2032. It has developed a reactor that employs molten sodium to transfer energy from reactor to generator. When demand is minimal, the superheated salt can be kept in an insulated vat until further power is required. The reactor can produce 345 megawatts of electricity, and the storage system can supply an extra 100 to 500 megawatts for more than five hours.

The company has gotten through the NRC process more smoothly, and it is collaborating with GE Hitachi to develop its first power plant in Wyoming. Meta’s first two reactors would generate 690 megawatts, and the company claimed it had the option to purchase six more units for a total of 2.8 gigawatts of nuclear power and 1.2 gigawatts of storage.

Meta did not disclose the financial specifics of the transactions.

Vistra’s power purchases are almost certainly the cheapest—electricity from currently operational nuclear reactors is among the cheapest on the grid.

The cost of SMRs is still being determined. Several startups have lofty cost targets: TerraPower estimates that it can reduce costs to $50 to $60 per megawatt-hour, while Oklo says it aims for $80 to $130 per megawatt-hour. Those values are for subsequent power plants; the initial examples are likely to cost more.