Microsoft will build small nuclear power plants. Looking for a project manager

In 2022, Microsoft signed an agreement with the Canadian company Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to purchase clean energy packages from nuclear power plants to power its data centers. Now the American giant apparently wants to go a step further. The latest job advertisement indicates that the company wants to have its own reactors producing nuclear energy.

Microsoft is looking for an employee. It is to develop an energy strategy based on nuclear energy

According to the announcement that appeared on , the company is looking for a person to fill the position of “principal nuclear technologies program manager.” According to the job description, this employee will be responsible for “developing and implementing a global energy strategy based on small modular reactors (SMR) and microreactors.” Small modular reactors (SMR for Small Modular Reactor) are in fact full-fledged nuclear reactors, but with relatively low power (it is assumed that they can have up to 300 MW of power). They are therefore ideal for powering e.g.

Such small power plants would power Microsoft’s computing centers and data centers, which are used to run Microsoft Cloud and artificial intelligence solutions. The new “nuclear technologies program manager” will lead a team that will select technology partners and solutions, conduct appropriate research work and, based on this data, develop and implement an appropriate strategy.

Candidates will, of course, have to meet a number of conditions. The most basic one is higher education and at least six years of professional experience in the nuclear industry. Additionally, at least three years of experience in managing interdisciplinary projects. The candidate must also have “extensive knowledge” of nuclear technology and legal issues in this field. Microsoft does not disclose the proposed remuneration, but emphasizes that the typical salary for this type of position in the company is from PLN 173.2 thousand. up to 282.2 thousand dollars per year for employees living in the San Francisco Bay Area or New York and from PLN 133,600. up to 256.8 thousand dollars per year for the rest of the US.

So it looks like Microsoft is getting ready for an energy revolution by focusing on its own sources of clean energy. And, of course, it is not the only company that came up with such an idea. As he writes on his website, the use of SMR reactors to power data centers will be an increasingly important trend. A dozen or so days ago, plans to build a small campus of SMRs for data centers were announced by the Swedish company Karnfull Next. Last Energy has previously found customers for small 20 MW reactors, and Sam Altman-backed Oklo plans to build small 15 MW reactors that could be ideal for single data centers.