The Power Allocation

Every hyperscaler is betting on small modular reactors. But the earliest SMR-powered data centers won't come online until 2030. Here's the timeline reality.

Show Notes

Small modular reactors have become the energy solution every AI company wants to talk about. But the timeline reality is stark: the earliest SMR-powered data centers won't come online until late 2027 at the absolute earliest, with more realistic estimates pointing to 2030 or beyond.

Key topics covered:

  • Hyperscaler nuclear deals: Meta/Oklo, Amazon/X-energy, Microsoft/Constellation, Google/Kairos
  • Actual SMR timelines: Oklo Aurora (2028), TerraPower Natrium (2030), Kairos/Google (2030)
  • NuScale's cancelled Utah project and lessons learned
  • First-of-a-kind nuclear: regulatory review, financing, and execution risk
  • The timing mismatch between AI demand growth and SMR availability
  • What fills the gap: natural gas, grid power, and existing nuclear restarts

Related keywords: small modular reactors, SMR data centers, Oklo, NuScale, TerraPower, Kairos Power, nuclear energy AI, Three Mile Island restart, baseload generation

The Power Allocation is brought to you by Spring Street Management Group — translating AI and data center hype into real infrastructure and assets.

What is The Power Allocation?

The AI boom isn't constrained by chips, algorithms, or talent. It's constrained by electricity.

The Power Allocation is a daily briefing on AI infrastructure — where capital is actually being deployed. Each episode cuts through the hype to examine the physical realities shaping the AI buildout: power constraints, grid interconnection, land acquisition, data center financing, cooling infrastructure, and utility relationships.

This isn't a software podcast. This is an infrastructure podcast.

Who it's for: Institutional investors, infrastructure allocators, data center developers, utilities, family offices, and anyone positioning capital for the physical layer of artificial intelligence.

What you'll learn:

Why power availability — not GPU supply — is the binding constraint on AI compute
How hyperscalers are locking in multi-decade power purchase agreements
Where data centers are relocating and why grid geography is reshaping the industry
The financing structures turning compute facilities into bond-like assets
What execution timelines, permitting delays, and interconnection queues mean for capital deployment
Format: 3-6 minute episodes. Dense. Clear. No hype.

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