Manhattan Project site now aims to power AI race against China

Over 80 years after scientists of the ‘Manhattan Project’ harnessed the power of the atom to end World War II, the top-secret worksite has a new mission to help dominate AI before China does. 

The first phase of the United States’ latest uranium enrichment facility opened in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in May. 

Uranium powers the nuclear reactors the AI data centers are turning to for reliable energy. They will use more energy as AI becomes more sophisticated, according to Orano USA CEO Jean-Luc Palayer.

“The United States can lead in AI, only if we can power AI,” Palayer said. “Having that in mind and our new project on enrichment in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, we step forward on a new mission of equal consequence.”

Numerous Tennessee lawmakers joined Palayer for a ribbon cutting of his new facility in Oak Ridge. 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported 99% of U.S. nuclear fuel is imported from other countries. In 2023, most of America’s uranium products came from Russia, Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The U.S. banned the import of uranium products from Russia in May 2024, but companies can still apply for waivers until 2028.

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“America is staring down the barrel of an energy crisis,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said. “We can’t lose the AI war to China. We can’t lose the energy war to Russia. In order to do that, we have to win the nuclear energy renaissance war in America.”

At the end of May, President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at quadrupling domestic nuclear energy production by 2050. The orders include a deadline for the publication of a report on how to strengthen domestic uranium conversion capacity and enrichment capabilities. It orders the government to update its nuclear energy policies to streamline production. At least 10 large nuclear reactors must be under construction no later than 2030, according to the order. 

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Meanwhile, China plans to build 10 new nuclear power reactors each year for the next decade, totaling 100 reactors by 2035. A list of U.S. nuclear reactors posted by the National Energy Institute shows the U.S. has built three in the last 30 years. 

Despite rapid capacity growth in 2022, nuclear power made up only about 5% of China’s cumulative power generation that year. Nuclear power accounts for about 18% of the electricity generation mix in the United States.

“We can’t wait 10 years to build nuclear reactors in this country. “That’s how long it used to take to approve them, to permit them, to build them,” Lee said. “We don’t have 10 years. China will have built 150 in 10 years.”

In 2023, the Department of Energy reported data centers used an estimated 176 TWh. That number is expected to rise to between 325 and 580 TWh by 2028. The department estimated AI data centers will use about 12% of U.S. energy annually by 2028, enough to power New York City for 11 years.