NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The nation's largest public utility plans to buy power from an upcoming advanced nuclear plant to help fuel Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama, according to a deal announced Monday.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, California-based Kairos Power and Google say the agreement will deliver up to 50 megawatts of energy to the federal utility's grid that powers the data centers.
The announcement comes at a time when tech companies expect to require a massive amount of power to fuel data centers behind artificial intelligence, and some of them have been especially interested in new nuclear production. President Donald Trump released a plan last month to boost AI and build data centers across the U.S. and in May signed executive orders aimed at boosting nuclear power.
TVA says it is the first U.S. utility to sign a power purchase agreement to buy electricity from a next-generation nuclear reactor. It would rely on the Hermes 2 reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2030.
The agreement will power data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama, and support future growth in the region, the news release said. Google will receive clean energy credits associated with the plant.
“This collaboration with TVA, Kairos Power, and the Oak Ridge community will accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies and help support the needs of our growing digital economy while also bringing firm carbon-free energy to the electricity system,” Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data center energy, said in the news release.
Hermes 2 is the first reactor under a deal between Kairos Power and Google to bring on 500 megawatts of new, advanced nuclear power production to help cover the tech giant's increased demand for electricity.
The new kind of nuclear reactor uses fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor technology. It uses molten salt as a coolant. Another test version of the plant in Oak Ridge, named Hermes, does not produce electricity.
The Hermes 2 plant received a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November. The plant still has more steps to complete, including an application for an operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Many next-generation reactors, including Kairos' Hermes 2, will use high-assay low-enriched uranium. The fuel is enriched to a higher level than traditional large nuclear reactors use, allowing the newer reactors to run longer and more efficiently, sit on smaller footprints and produce less waste, according to the Department of Energy.
There’s little of it made in the United States right now. But companies are investing to ramp up production, including in Oak Ridge.
The Tennessee Valley Authority powers 10 million people across seven southern states.
FILE - Electrical power lines string across the landscape near downtown Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The president's threat comes a day after a federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Minneapolis man who had attacked the officer with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger radiating across the Minnesota city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
The Associated Press has reached out to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for comment.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”
Things later quietened down and by early Thursday only a few demonstrators and law enforcement officers remained at the scene.
Demonstrations have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since the ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Good on Jan. 7. Agents have yanked people from their cars and homes, and have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding that the officers pack up and leave.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.
Frey said the federal force — five times the size of the city’s 600-officer police force — has “invaded” Minneapolis, scaring and angering residents.
In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday's shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.
The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.
O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.
During a speech before the latest shooting, Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what's happening in the state “defies belief.”
“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.
The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.
Good was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.
Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been criticized by Minnesota officials.
Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment.
Good’s family has hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego; Rebecca Santana in Washington; Ed White in Detroit and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed.
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
