As semiconductor manufacturing becomes more complex and energy intensive, demand for power and critical utilities is surging. At the same time, a major U.S. initiative to reshore advanced chip production is accelerating planning and construction of multibillion-dollar fabrication facility builds. These fabrication centers are increasingly colocated with data centers, creating new opportunities to use nuclear power to meet the growing energy demand driven by artificial intelligence.
Sargent & Lundy’s Paul Kerr and Josh Best will share the firm’s advanced and small modular reactors expertise at the 2025 UltraFacility Conference Dec. 3-5 in Austin, Texas. They co-authored their presentation, “Deployment of Nuclear Energy to Support Growing Semiconductor Utility Demands and Improve Environmental Sustainability of Semiconductor Facilities,” with Sargent & Lundy colleague Tatjana Jevremovic.
Kerr and Best will explore the use of SMRs to meet the semiconductor industry’s demands for energy, water, and other utilities, along with opportunities to power the growing energy demand driven by AI. A typical advanced semiconductor factory requires up to 150 MW of stable electrical power and billions of gallons of water per year. Kerr and Best will discuss how SMRs can provide a sustainable, long-term solution to the industry’s growing power and utility needs.
The three-day conference brings together facility experts, engineers, and technologists representing semiconductor manufacturers and major companies from across the supply chain to discuss sustainability measures, reliability standards, and meeting business goals amid material and talent shortages. The need for stable, reliable, and clean energy is among the most pressing issues facing both the semiconductor and data center industries.
Sargent & Lundy works with data center hyperscalers and colocaters along with semiconductor manufacturers to harness the energy they need through existing grid connections or new power generation to meet their needs and fulfill sustainability goals. Having pioneered the commercial nuclear power industry more than 70 years ago, Sargent & Lundy is now at the forefront of implementing SMRs to help provide carbon-free energy for energy-intensive manufacturing facilities and data centers.
Sargent & Lundy is currently supporting materials science company Dow and advanced reactor developer X-energy’s construction permit application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a first-of-its-kind SMR to power an industrial manufacturing complex on Texas’ Gulf Coast. The firm is currently providing initial planning and evaluation for a possible SMR at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Clinch River Nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is also providing engineering and design support for a proposed SMR in Romania following its successful siting study.
For more information, visit the conference website.