Can Nuclear-Inspired Cooling Cut Data Center Costs?

About this episode

The episode discusses a new nuclear-inspired cooling technology for data centers that could significantly reduce costs and energy consumption.

MIT News reported that an MIT-affiliated startup is applying nuclear reactor-inspired thermal management to cool servers by removing heat at the chip level. The approach uses two-phase boiling, microchannels, and passive loop designs to reduce chiller use, raise coolant temperatures, and enable higher rack densities. IEA data shows rising global data center electricity consumption, and Uptime Institute reports an average PUE of 1.58. Major operators, including Microsoft and Google, are introducing liquid-cooled options for AI racks as Nvidia and AMD hardware increases per-rack power. ASHRAE, Open Compute Project, and Open19 have issued guidance that eases integration. Fluids availability is shifting after 3M announced the wind down of Novec by the end of 2025, steering vendors toward water-based or lower GWP options. Policy constraints in Ireland and Northern Virginia, plus water planning requirements, are accelerating adoption of advanced cooling methods. Learn more on this news by visiting us at: https://greyjournal.net/news/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics covered

• nuclear cooling
• data centers
• thermal management
• AI racks
• liquid cooling
• energy efficiency

Keywords

• nuclear cooling
• data center costs
• thermal management
• liquid cooling
• energy efficiency
• AI racks
• PUE
• 3M
• coolant

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MIT, Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, AMD, ASHRAE, Open Compute Project, Open19, 3M

Places: Ireland, Northern Virginia

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