小型核反應堆為資料中心供電的願景在加速
Small Nuclear Reactors Could Power Data Centers Sooner Than You Think
National Data Center
February 3, 2023 Dan Rabb, Bisnow Data Centers Reporter
譯 者 說
美國核管會已經準許小型子產品化反應堆（SMR）這一軍用技術投入商用。中國也已開始推進相關的SMR、60萬千瓦級商用高溫氣冷堆、海上浮動式核動力平台等先進示範堆項目。SMR相較于其他供電設施，占地小、部署更快、可靠性更高、也更環保。SMR今後可以為微電網、海上設施、高耗能資料中心和電網容量有限的偏遠地區進行供電。
SMR技術在資料中心行業的應用仍然存在一些挑戰，包括：選址及網際網路接入點、建造及運作成本、運維技術能力等。由于中國的核電設施營運牌照相比IDC資料中心營運牌照更具有壟斷性，如果今後采用SMR為資料中心或園區供電，大機率還是由核電營運方和資料中心營運方獨立營運各自設施，或成立合資公司對這些設施進行統一營運管理。
多年來，小型核反應堆為蓬勃發展的資料中心供電，一直被視為一種更可持續的方式。現在，資料中心行業在面臨傳統能源越來越多的問題時，一系列新的監管準許和項目可能會使資料中心使用核電的方案提前落地。
Small nuclear reactors have been eyed for years as a more sustainable way to power the booming supply of data centers. Now, just as the industry faces growing issues with access to its traditional power sources, a series of new regulatory approvals and projects could make that nuclear future a reality sooner than expected.
美國能源部，NuScale 計劃中的 Voygr 發電廠，将使用小型子產品化核反應堆
1 月下旬，美國核管會首次全面準許小型子產品化反應堆SMR用于商業用途。這是在去年 10 月的一項監管決定之後做出的，該決定允許 SMR 建造在比傳統核電站更靠近人口稠密地區的地方。
In late January, for the first time, U.S. nuclear regulators fully approved a small modular reactor for commercial use. That came after an October regulatory decision that allowed SMRs to be built closer to densely populated areas than traditional nuclear plants.
上周，GE Hitachi 和加拿大公用事業公司 Ontario Power Generation 宣布了一個 SMR 發電廠的計劃，該發電廠将于 2028 年投入營運，這是北美第一個電網規模 SMR 的商業合同。
And last week, GE Hitachi and Canadian utility Ontario Power Generation announced plans for an SMR power plant that will be operational by 2028, the first commercial contract for a grid-scale SMR in North America.
像 NuScale現在準許的功率子產品這樣的 SMR 在尺寸和規模上更接近于為海軍潛艇和航空母艦提供動力的反應堆，而不是公用事業通常使用的大型核電站。它們的體積小意味着它們隻需要舊核電站所需占地面積的一小部分。
SMRs like NuScale’s now-approved Power Module are closer in size and scale to the reactors powering the Navy’s submarines and aircraft carriers than to the massive nuclear generating stations typically used by utilities. Their small size means they require a fraction of the footprint needed for older nuclear plants.
支援者表示，SMR核電站可以比傳統核電站更便宜、更快速地建造，并且可以在更多地方建造，而且不會有大規模核洩漏的風險。
Proponents say SMR plants can be built more cheaply, more quickly and in more places than their traditional counterparts, with none of the risk of large-scale environmental catastrophe often associated with nuclear energy.
專家表示，雖然距離第一個商用 NuScale 反應堆還有六年的時間，但子產品化核能很可能在資料中心項目中率先得到推廣和應用。
Although the first commercial NuScale reactor is still six years away, data centers might well be the use case that brings modular nuclear power into mainstream use, experts say.
資料中心開發商和營運商一直在努力尋找開發地點，以擷取該行業最重要市場中這些設施所需的大量電力。與此同時，他們面臨着逐漸淘汰燃燒化石燃料産生的能源的壓力。這很容易了解為什麼對于越來越多的行業上司者來說，SMR 越來越像是解決他們兩個最大問題的潛在解決方案。
Data center developers and operators have been struggling to find development sites with access to the massive amounts of electricity these facilities need in the sector’s most important markets. At the same time, they are facing pressure to phase out energy generated by burning fossil fuels. It is easy to see why, to a growing cohort of industry leaders, SMRs are looking more and more like a potential solution to two of their biggest problems.
“資料中心是這方面的完美應用，”Omdia 雲和資料中心研究實踐的首席分析師艾倫霍華德說，他是 12 月關于 SMR 資料中心可行性研究的合著者。
“Data centers are a perfect application for this,” said Alan Howard, principal analyst at Omdia’s cloud and data center research practice and the co-author of a December study on SMRs' viability for data centers.
“突然之間，因為NuScale 取得了進展，并且還有許多其他項目正在進行中，人們開始真正談論這個，”霍華德補充道。“這是一件大事，它正在開始發展和驗證、通過可靠性和經濟分析後才會開始推廣應用。”
“All of a sudden, because NuScale has made progress and there’s a bunch of other projects in the works, people are starting to really talk about this," Howard added. "It’s a big deal, and it’s starting the process of developing the proof, the economic data and the use cases needed to bring it into the mainstream.”
小型反應堆并不是一項新技術。第一艘核動力軍艦于 1955 年下水，俄羅斯使用 SMR 為北極圈的農村社群提供電力。但隻是在過去十年内，NuScale、勞斯萊斯、東芝和特裡斯特爾能源等公司才開始在小型反應堆方面取得重大進展，這些反應堆的生産成本足夠低，而且規模足夠大，具有商業可行性。
Small reactors aren’t exactly a new technology. The first nuclear-powered warship launched in 1955, and Russia uses an SMR to provide power to rural communities in the Arctic Circle. But it is only within the past decade that companies like NuScale, Rolls Royce, Toshiba and Terrestrial Energy began making serious strides toward small reactors that can be produced cheaply enough and at enough scale to be commercially viable.
核管會上個月準許的NuScale 反應堆可産生約 50 兆瓦的電力。這比最大的資料中心園區使用的能源要少，盡管多達 12 個子產品可以組合在一起作為一個電源，可以為北弗吉尼亞以外的任何市場的所有資料中心提供足夠的電力。每個子產品長 76 英尺，寬 15 英尺，這意味着具有多個反應器的工廠可以安置在比标準資料中心更小的建築物中。
The NuScale reactor approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month produces around 50 megawatts of power. That is less energy than is used by the largest data center campuses, although up to 12 of the modules can be grouped together as a single power source that could provide more than enough electricity for all the data centers in any market except Northern Virginia. Each module is 76 feet long by 15 feet wide, meaning that plants with multiple reactors can be housed in buildings smaller than the standard data center.
能夠以較小的占地面積産生大量的電力能力是 SMR 對資料中心的吸引力的核心。
該公司表示，NuScale的發電廠設計可以在僅 0.05 平方英裡的土地上産生 924 兆瓦的電力，而即使是最小的傳統核電站也超過 1 平方英裡，風電場也超過 94 平方英裡。雖然針對傳統核電站的聯邦法規要求在周圍建立一個災難管理區，以防止它們在人口稠密地區附近建造，但 10 月的一項監管決定确定 SMR 的應急區僅限于電站本身，進而大大增加了可以建造這些設施的地方。
The ability to generate lots of power on a small footprint is at the heart of SMRs' appeal for data centers. NuScale’s power plant design can produce 924 MW on just 0.05 square miles, the company says, compared with more than 1 square mile for even the smallest traditional nuclear plant or 94 square miles for a wind farm. And while federal regulations for traditional nuclear plants mandate a surrounding disaster management zone that prevents them from being constructed next to densely populated areas, an October regulatory decision determined that the emergency zone for SMRs is limited to the plant site itself, vastly increasing the number of places these facilities can be built.
在美國日本和英國等地，這種政府對SMR技術的支援有助于使 SMR 更接近商業可行性。自 2014 年以來，美國能源部已向 NuScale 和其他 SMR 項目投入超過 6 億美元，并将成為 NuScale 反應堆産生的能源的第一個客戶。第一個商業 NuScale 發電廠計劃于 2029 年上線，将由猶他州的一家公用事業公司營運，為能源部的愛達荷國家實驗室提供能源。
This kind of government support for modular nuclear technology in the U.S. and in places like Japan and the UK has been instrumental in moving SMRs closer to commercial viability.The Department of Energy has pumped more than $600M into NuScale and other SMR projects since 2014 and will be the first customer for the energy produced by NuScale’s reactors. Scheduled to go online in 2029, the first commercial NuScale power plant will be operated by a Utah utility to provide energy for the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory.
“SMR 不再是一個抽象概念，”負責核能的助理部長 Kathryn Huff 在一份書面聲明中表示。“它們是真實的，并已準備好部署”。對于資料中心開發商和營運商而言，SMR 為限制北弗吉尼亞和矽谷等主要市場發展的電力限制提供了一種潛在的補救措施。
“SMRs are no longer an abstract concept,” Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff said in a written statement. “They are real, and they are ready for deployment.”For data center developers and operators, SMRs offer a potential remedy to the power constraints that have limited development in key markets like Northern Virginia and Silicon Valley.
在弗吉尼亞州的勞登縣等地，問題不是發電量太少，而是輸電基礎設施不足，無法将電力從中央發電廠輸送到資料中心建設者需要的光纖和其他設施。SMR 提供了另一種方法的可能性：将發電轉移到資料中心所在的地方。
In places like Virginia’s Loudoun County, the problem hasn't been too little power being generated but rather insufficient transmission infrastructure bringing electricity from central power plants to sites with access to fiber and other features data center builders need. SMRs present the possibility of an alternative approach: Move the power generation to where the data centers are.
傳統的核電站比SMR大得多，成本更高，建造時間更長
專家表示，這種方法現在更有意義，因為資料中心越來越多地在大型、多設施園區中發展，而且它們經常聚集在靠近其他資料中心營運商或其他電力密集型行業（如晶片制造廠或高科技制造業）的地方。
Experts say this approach makes even more sense now that data centers are increasingly developed on large, multifacility campuses, and they are frequently clustered close to other data center operators or other power-intensive industries like chip fabrication plants or high-tech manufacturing.
Omdia 的霍華德說：“看看内華達州的斯帕克斯，那裡有特斯拉工廠，他們在那裡生産電池，然後幾乎在投擲距離之内就有谷歌資料中心園區、蘋果資料中心園區和 Switch 資料中心園區。” “這将是這種技術真正适用的發展方式。”
“Look at Sparks, Nevada, where you have the Tesla factory where they make their batteries, then almost within throwing distance you have a Google data center campus, an Apple data center campus and a Switch data center campus,” Omdia’s Howard said. “That would be the kind of development where this technology would be really appropriate.”
雖然一些行業上司者提出了資料中心營運商在他們的園區内運作反應堆甚至使用微型反應堆而不是備用發電機的想法，但專家表示，現實幾乎肯定會看起來更像 NuScale 在猶他州的項目，公用事業與資料中心提供商合作或其他最終使用者資助子產品化工廠。
While some industry leaders have raised the idea of data center operators running reactors on their campuses or even using micro-reactors instead of backup generators, experts say the reality will almost certainly look more like NuScale’s project in Utah, with utilities partnering with data center providers or other end users to finance modular plants.
這是資料中心行業過去成功采用的模式來推動可再生能源項目的發展，像Meta 這樣的超大規模企業同意提前從計劃中的風電場或太陽能電池陣列購買大部分能源以確定融資。
This is a model the data center industry has employed successfully in the past to drive the development of renewable energy projects, with hyperscalers like Meta agreeing to buy most of the energy from a planned wind farm or solar array in advance to secure financing.
“資料中心公司不會在這裡成為電力公司，”Compass Quantum 的托尼格雷森說，他是一名退休的海軍潛艇指揮官，他也一直在倡導資料中心行業使用SMR。“這樣做的方式是資料中心公司簽署長期購電協定，這些協定幾乎是永久性的，是以他們可以向貸款人證明這一點，貸款人會給他們提供資金幫助他們建造工廠。”
“You’re not going to have data center companies becoming power companies here,” said Compass Quantum’s Tony Grayson, a retired Navy submarine commander who has become one of the data center industry’s more vocal advocates for modular nuclear power. “The way it’s going to happen is data center companies signing long-term power purchase agreements, which are almost money in perpetuity, so they can show that to a lender who will give them the money to help them build a plant.”
那麼資料中心多久可以推動 SMR 的安裝呢？
So how soon could data centers drive the installation of SMRs?
NuScale 用于愛達荷國家實驗室的反應堆計劃于 2029 年上線，但專家告訴 Bisnow，他們預計第一個商業資料中心應用程式還需要十年時間。盡管如此，對于一個大型設施需要兩年多時間才能建成的行業來說，10 年完全在規劃範圍内。
NuScale’s reactor for the Idaho National Laboratory is scheduled to go online in 2029, but experts told Bisnow they expect the first commercial data center applications are a decade away. Still, 10 years is well within the planning horizon for hyperscalers in an industry where large facilities take over two years to build.
但即使是該技術最大的推動者也承認，廣泛采用的重大障礙仍将存在，尤其是與核能相關的風險——無論是真實的還是感覺的風險。
But even the technology’s biggest boosters acknowledge that significant barriers to widespread adoption will persist, not the least of which is the risks — real or perceived — associated with nuclear energy.
雖然核能作為資料中心行業中的“清潔”能源越來越被接受，但在環境、社會和治理名額以及碳減排目标方面，其地位仍然處于灰色地帶，而這些正成為資料中心租戶的主要考慮因素。在地方政府看來，高耗能資料中心的建設已經在弗吉尼亞北部和其他主要市場面臨越來越多的政治反對浪潮，如果再建設核反應堆，當地政府将會面臨更大的壓力。
While nuclear power is gaining growing acceptance as a “clean” energy source within the data center industry, its status remains something of a gray area when it comes to environmental, social and governance metrics and carbon reduction goals that are becoming a major consideration for data center tenants. On a more local level, new data center builds are already facing a growing wave of political opposition in Northern Virginia and other major markets, and that is without a nuclear reactor coming with them.
SMR 的支援者堅持認為，對輻射或福島或切爾諾貝利規模的潛在災難的恐懼是沒有根據的。他們指出海軍 70 年來在沒有發生一起重大事故的情況下在船上運作小型核反應堆的記錄，以及海軍現在在86 艘船隻上安裝了核反應堆，這些船隻每天都毫無争議地進出主要城市。此外，他們表示，SMR 比傳統核電站更複雜、更安全、更易于操作，而且它們的體積小意味着根本不可能發生大規模災難。
Proponents of SMRs are insistent that fears about radiation or a potential catastrophe on the scale of Fukushima or Chernobyl are unfounded.They point to the Navy’s 70-year track record of operating small nuclear reactors on ships without a single major incident and to the Navy now having nuclear reactors on 86 vessels that sail in and out of major cities every day without controversy. Additionally, they say SMRs are far more sophisticated, safer and easier to operate than traditional nuclear plants, and their small size means that a large-scale catastrophe simply isn't possible.
盡管如此，像格雷森這樣的核能倡導者表示，希望用 SMR 為資料中心提供動力的開發商和公用事業公司需要做好公共宣傳活動和協調一緻的公關工作的準備，如果他們希望推動項目向前發展的話。推動此類核項目向前發展的成功模式确實存在：格雷森指出，比爾蓋茨資助的泰拉能源成功地為懷俄明州的反應堆項目建立了社群支援。
Still, nuclear advocates like Grayson say developers and utilities hoping to power data centers with SMRs need to be ready with public outreach campaigns and concerted PR efforts if they expect to move projects forward. Successful models for moving this kind of nuclear project forward do exist: Grayson points to Bill Gates-funded TerraPower’s success in building community support for its reactor project in Wyoming.
格雷森補充說，一些最大的資料中心市場已經在使用核能，是以在那裡增加新反應堆不太可能引起争議。這些市場包括弗吉尼亞北部和菲尼克斯，他認為這些市場可能是 SMR 的早期采用者。“對我來說，這是顯而易見的，”格雷森說。“兩者都有已經營運核能的電力營運商，而且兩者至少都在一定程度上受到電力限制。”
Grayson added that some of the largest data center markets already use nuclear energy, so the addition of new reactors is unlikely to be controversial there. These markets include Northern Virginia and Phoenix, which he sees as likely early adopters for SMRs. “To me, it’s a no-brainer,” Grayson said. “Both have power operators that already operate nuclear, and both are at least somewhat power-constrained.”
除了公衆對核電的态度外，專家表示，與其他電源相比，建造、安裝和維護 SMR 的成本最終将決定資料中心對子產品化核電的需求。事實上，降低成本一直是NuScale、東芝和特裡斯特爾能源等公司面臨的主要挑戰，這些公司使用子產品化構造技術并使用現成的元件獲得成本的競争力。
Beyond public attitudes toward nuclear power, experts said it is the cost of building, installing and maintaining SMRs compared to other power sources that will ultimately determine data center demand for modular nuclear power. Indeed, reducing cost has been the primary challenge for companies like NuScale, Toshiba and Terrestrial Energy, who use modular construction techniques and use off-the-shelf components to keep the price of the technology competitive.
NuScale 表示，建造、營運和維護反應堆的總成本将與其他電源的目前費率一緻，預計每生産 MW 的總成本為 40 至 60 美元。對于天然氣和陸上風能，這個數字約為每兆瓦 37 美元。
NuScale says the overall cost to build, operate and maintain reactors will be in line with the current rates for other power sources, predicting an overall cost of $40 to $60 per MW produced. That figure is around $37 per MW for natural gas and onshore wind.
但是，即使 SMR 的經濟性對資料中心有意義，專家表示，由于商業反應堆建造商和資料中心行業之間目前缺乏協調，采用的速度可能會被推遲，這可能是建造商之一最佳用例。Omdia 的霍華德表示，通正常避風險的資料中心行業有責任開始對話，将這項技術投入正常使用。
But even if the economics of SMRs make sense for data centers, experts said the pace of adoption will likely be delayed by what is presently a lack of coordination between commercial reactor builders and the data center industry, which could potentially be one of the builders' best use cases. Omdia’s Howard said it has put the onus on the typically risk-averse data center industry to start the conversations that can pull this technology into regular use.
霍華德說：“研究人員和像 NuScale 這樣的私營公司以及政府方面的事情，他們已經合作了一段時間。”他們一直沒有與潛在的消費者互動，并真正了解這将如何在商業上發揮作用。雙方實際上正在讨論的事情現在才剛剛開始。”
“There’s the researchers and the private companies like NuScale and the government side of things, and they’ve all been working together for some time," Howard said. “What they haven’t been doing is engaging with their potential consumers and really getting a read on how this is going to play out commercially. Those two sides actually talking together is something that’s just developing now."
深 知 社
翻譯：
梁偉
AWS 總工
DKV（DeepKnowledge Volunteer）計劃精英成員
校對：
王謀銳
城地香江(上海)雲計算有限公司 電氣架構師
DKV（DeepKnowledge Volunteer）計劃精英成員
公衆号聲明：
本文并非官方認可的中文版本，僅供讀者學習參考，不得用于任何商業用途，文章内容請以英文原版為準，本文不代表深知社觀點。中文版未經公衆号DeepKnowledge書面授權，請勿轉載。