From Tokyo, Japan and New Plymouth, New Zealand – this is Down to Business English. With your hosts Skip Montreux and Samantha Vega.
Hi Skip. How are you feeling? Have you recovered from your cold?
Hello Samantha. Yes, I am feeling much better, thank you. Although it is never nice to lose one’s voice.
I know, it’s a little unnerving, isn’t it. But it sounds like you’re on the mend.
Hm. I think so.
And just in time for Halloween!
I know — my favorite holiday of the year.
Is it? I didn’t know Halloween was your favorite holiday. What are you going to do this year?
Oh Samantha, I haven’t put on an actual Halloween costume in years.
You haven’t?
I just like the holiday.
Have you never dressed up and attended that huge Halloween street party in Shibuya? It’s turned into a massive phenomenon.
No, I haven’t actually. Which is hard to believe because my office is literally a fifteen minute walk away from Shibuya’s famous scramble corner.
Well, you should check it out this year.
I am afraid that’s not going to happen as I’m leaving for the U.S. the day after tomorrow.
Ah, that’s right.
But even if I was in Tokyo, Shibuya is really cracking down on large street gatherings. They’ve banned public drinking year round, and have actually canceled that Halloween event this year.
I guess it was just getting too big, too difficult to manage.
I suppose so. And ever since that tragic incident that happened in South Korea on Halloween back in 2022, I don’t know if you remember it, but there were 150 people crushed to death in a huge Halloween crowd. I think ever since then, Shibuya is quite nervous about something like that happening here.
Mm, yes. I can see that. It’s completely understandable.
So why all this interest in Halloween, Samantha? It’s not really business related.
No, but today’s business report is on a topic that I personally think is scary. I thought some small talk about Halloween would help lead us into it.
Okay, a scary business topic? What would that be?
Tell me Skip, what comes to mind when you hear the names Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima? Well of course I immediately think of nuclear disasters.
Right. Nuclear disasters — very scary events.
I live less than 300 km away from the Fukushima Dai Ichi nuclear plant, so you will get no argument from me on that point — they are indeed scary things to live through.
Fukushima had not one, not two, but three reactor meltdowns in 2011.
I am well aware. And did you knowhat even today, 13 years after the disaster, the cleanup is ongoing and nowhere near finished.
I did know that. They say it will take maybe another 30 to 40 years.
It is not a pretty picture.
Well, that brings us to our topic for today. I recently read a news headline that startled me.
What was that?
The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst nuclear accident to take place in the United States, is reopening.
You know, that doesn’t surprise me so much. Over the last few years there has been a big push from some environmentalists to reconsider using nuclear energy.
Well the big push in this instance is not coming from environmentalists. It’s coming from Big Tech — specifically Microsoft.
Microsoft?! What do they want with nuclear energy?
They plan on using nuclear energy to generate electricity to power their growing artificial intelligence endeavors.
Really.
And Microsoft is not the only Big Tech company looking to use nuclear energy. Amazon and Google are jumping on the bandwagon too.
This raises a lot of questions.
It does. So, I thought that we could take a closer look at this topic today.
I definitely want to hear more about this.
Then let’s do it. Let’s get D2B … Down to Business with Big Tech goes Nuclear.
I think a good place to start is to talk about why big tech companies are even considering using nuclear power in the first place. It is such a risky energy source.
It all comes down to the enormous amount of power it takes to run their data centers — which are the backbone of their AI operations
Artificial Intelligence is power-hungry?
In comparison to the conventional way we use the internet by making search queries, AI is very power intensive.
Can you give our listeners an idea of just how much energy we're talking about?
A single conventional search query on Google consumes about 0.3 watt-hours of electricity. A single ChatGPT prompt requires 2.9 watt-hours to process.
I have no idea how much that actually amounts to, but whatever a watt-hour is, ChatGPT is using 10 times more of them than conventional search.
And training an AI model, like ChatGPT 4o, can consume as much electricity as 130 U.S. homes use in an entire year.
Hm. That is pretty staggering. And I imagine with the rapid advance in AI, the demand for electricity is only going to increase.
Exactly. According to projections, data centers in the US could account for up to 8% total consumption.
And how much do data centers use today?
On an annual basis, data centers in the US use about 3% of total power today.
So from 3% consumption to 8% consumption. That is a massive increase over the next five years.
And Goldman Sachs Research forecasts that on a global scale, data center power demand will increase 160% by 2030.
So what you are telling me is Big Tech companies are essentially heading toward an energy crisis of their own making.
They're certainly caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, they need to power their complex AI systems. And on the other hand, they’ve made strong commitments to meet their net zero carbon emission targets.
I know that Google’s target is to reach net zero by 2030.
Which is impossible if they are powering their AI products with electricity generated by fossil fuels, like coal and oil.
And this is where nuclear power comes in.
Precisely. Nuclear energy offers a clean, round-the-clock power source that doesn't create carbon emissions. For Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, it's an attractive solution to their energy dilemma.
Okay. That is why they are starting to use nuclear power. Now tell me about what these companies are specifically doing in the nuclear space, starting with Microsoft.
Microsoft has made a significant move. On September 20th, they entered a 20-year agreement to procure electricity from the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
Considering the history of Three Mile Island — that it is the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history — you are right about this being a startling headline, Samantha. Can you tell our listeners who may not know about Three Mile Island, could you tell us what happened?
In 1979 there was a partial meltdown in one of the two nuclear reactors in operation at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
And where exactly is that?
About 250 km from New York City.
Hm, interesting. That’s approximately the same distance between Tokyo and the Daiichi plant in Fukushima.
Well, compared to what later happened in Chernobyl and Fukushima, the Three Mile Island accident was a fairly minor incident.
But at the time it was considered major.
It sure was and it led to a widespread fear of nuclear energy in the U.S. In fact, no new nuclear plants were built in the US for over 10 years.
And now they are reopening Three Mile Island.
Yes. But keep in mind that the reactor Microsoft will be getting electricity from is the Unit 1 reactor — not Unit 2, which was the one that melted down in 1979.
And Unit 1 is presumably safe?
I assume so. In fact, Unit 1 remained in use all the way up to 2019 and was only shut down due to economic reasons, not safety concerns.
Hm. And when will they reopen it?
Constellation Energy, Three Mile Island’s current owner, will invest $US 1.6 billion to restore and upgrade the reactor. If all goes according to plan, Unit 1 will be back online by 2028.
$1.6 billion. That is quite an investment.
It is. But it’s probably a good investment. The plant will eventually provide over 800 megawatts of carbon-free power for Microsoft to use in their AI data centers.
Microsoft’s agreement with Constellation energy nicely aligns with their goal to reduce carbon emissions and support their growing AI operations.
There is no doubt about that. According to Bobby Hollis, Microsoft's vice president of energy, it is a significant step in their mission to achieve net zero.
Okay, so that is Microsoft. What about Amazon and Google?
Amazon, instead of upgrading older nuclear reactors, is investing in developing new technology. They have announced partnerships with two energy companies — Dominion Energy and X-energy — to develop SMRs, or small modular reactors across the U.S.
Small modular reactors?
Yes. SMRs are considered to be slightly safer than traditional nuclear reactors, or at least if they have an issue they do less damage. Amazon is investing $US500 million to advance SMR projects. And they plan to generate up to 5 gigawatts of nuclear energy by 2039
Hm. And what about Google?
On Google’s part, they have partnered with Kairos Power to purchase energy from small modular reactors as well. They're planning to have their first reactor operational by 2030, providing up to 500 megawatts of carbon-free power for their data centers.
Well it sure does seem like nuclear power could be the solution to Big Tech’s energy demands. But I just wonder if nuclear energy is going in the right direction, given the dangers surrounding a nuclear accident.
You are not alone on that concern. Nuclear energy still carries a stigma from accidents like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
As it should. I know they are saying nuclear energy is safer today than in the past, but, you know, that is what they said when they were building the Fukushima Daiichi plant. An accident on the scale of what happened in 2011 — it was never supposed to have happened.
But yet it did.
I have to say Samantha, I am very skeptical. Sure, nuclear energy is clean and is better for the environment than fossil fuels.
Until it isn’t.
Right, until there is a meltdown or a major radiation leak that makes the area around the reactor uninhabitable for decades … or, or longer.
That’s the problem with nuclear power. But even if safety wasn’t a concern, there is also the issue of nuclear waste.
Mm. Of course. How are these big tech companies planning to deal with that?
Nuclear waste management is indeed a critical concern. While SMRs are designed to produce less waste than traditional reactors, the long-term storage and disposal of nuclear waste remains an unresolved issue.
Well it sounds like there are a lot of moving parts here. Given these challenges, why do you think these companies are still pursuing nuclear power?
The potential benefits of having a stable, carbon-free energy source are too significant to ignore. For companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, nuclear power offers a way to meet their energy needs while adhering to their environmental commitments.
So it is a calculated risk they are willing to take?
Exactly. It's a bold move, but one that could set a precedent for other industries facing similar energy challenges. It will be interesting to see how these projects unfold.
And on that note, I think it is time for us to get D2V … Down to Vocabulary. The first item on our D2V list today is the adjective unnerving. Something that is unnerving makes you feel uncomfortable or unsure of yourself. In the introduction of today’s report, when I mentioned to Samantha that it was not nice to lose my voice when I was sick, she agreed with me and commented that it was a little unnerving.
I did. I’ve lost my voice a few times in my life, and each time it was an uncomfortable experience. There’s always that little voice in the back of your head wondering if you’ll ever speak normally again.
That’s exactly what happened to me.
The word unnerving is similar in meaning to the high-frequency adjective nervous, isn’t it.
Mm. That’s right. Unnerving and nervous share the same Latin root.
How are they different?
Usually, we use nervous to talk about feeling worried or uncomfortable about something that will happen in the future. Unnerving on the other hand, describes a situation or event that makes you feel uneasy or anxious.
So, losing your voice is an event, which makes it unnerving.
Right.
And worrying that your voice won’t come back in the future — you can say, “I’m nervous that my voice won’t come back."
Precisely. How would you use ‘unnerving’ in a business context, Samantha?
In a business context, you might say that a sudden drop in the stock market is ‘unnerving’ for investors. It makes them feel anxious or concerned about what is going to happen with their investments moving forward.
Good example, Samantha. What’s our next word?
Next on the list is the expression to be the backbone of something. This idiom means to be the essential support or foundation of a system or organization.
Just like our physical backbones are the essential part of our bodies that let us stand up and walk.
Exactly. Today, I said that data centers are the backbone of Big Tech’s AI operations. I was saying that they are the main support structure that allows AI to run smoothly.
This is a great idiom to use in business to communicate that something is important or essential. For example, you could say something like, “Our customer service department is the backbone of our brand’s reputation.”
Or, the backbone of New Zealand’s economy is agriculture.
Agriculture? Not tourism?
Tourism is important, but farming plays a bigger role.
People can be backbones too. For example, Elon Musk is the backbone of Tesla and SpaceX. Tim Cook is the backbone of Apple, and Sam Altman is the backbone of OpenAI.
All very true. Our final word for D2V today is the verb to consume. When you consume something you use it up.
In today’s report, Samantha told us that training an AI model could consume as much electricity as 130 U.S. homes consume in a year.
In other words, the amount of electricity that 130 US homes uses up in one year is the same as the amount it takes to train an AI model.
Can you give us a business example Samantha?
Sure. You often hear the word ‘consume’ in business, especially when someone is talking about resources. For example, "Our project consumed more time and money than expected."
Nice. My entire week last week was consumed attending internal meetings. In fact, I spent so much time in meetings that I wasn’t able to finish several other important tasks.
Meetings have a tendency to consume too much of our time, that’s for sure.
They do.
The noun form of consume is consumption, and it too is a very common word in business.
It is. Consumption is the act of using up resources, like energy or materials. In the report, Samantha pointed out that in the coming years, data centers could account for up to 8% of total energy consumption in the U.S.
That’s correct. I meant data centers might use up to 8% of all power.
You often hear ‘consumption’ in economic contexts. The term domestic consumption refers to the use or purchase of goods and services within the country where those goods are produced or services offered.
So there you have it — four useful business words and phrases: unnerving, to be the backbone of something, consume, and consumption.
Try to use them in your next English conversation at the office.
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Thanks for that report on Big Tech going Nuclear Samantha.
My pleasure, Skip.
A very interesting turn of events.
It is and it will definitely have an impact on the energy industry. We will have to watch how things develop.
Yes, we will. D2B Members and Apple Podcast subscribers, the Bonus vocabulary episode for today’s D2B is in the works and will be ready shortly.
The words and phrases we focus on in the Bonus D2V episode are — to check something out, a query, the phrase ‘to go according to plan’, to adhere to, and a calculated risk.
Five more great business words and phrases.
They are.
If you are a D2B member, that bonus D2V episode will be in your Members-only RSS feed very soon. So be sure to visit your Member’s account on the D2B website and copy and paste your RSS feed URL into the app you use to listen to podcasts.
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Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time.
Take care.
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