Nuclear-powered cryptomining facilities are coming to the US

[midian182]

WTF?! Cryptomining farms can consume a lot of power, so why not harness nuclear energy to run one? That unlikely-sounding scenario will become a reality in the US, where plans for nuclear-powered mining operations in Pennsylvania and Ohio have been revealed.

Data Center Dynamics reports that US power company Talen Energy will develop its mining facility and data center adjacent to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station (top) in PA. It will have 164MW of capacity during development, and once complete, will reach 300MW provided by dual 1+GW nuclear units and two independent substations. The on-site power has the potential to reach 1GW.

“It [the facility] will provide low-cost, reliable, carbon-free power to the data center clients on campus. This allows clients to benefit from carbon-free, 24/7 power being supplied directly to the campus, without the intermittency that renewable energy can experience, or requiring fossil fuels,” said Talen Energy.

The company has already secured permits for the site and commenced construction.

Also see: What is Cryptomining?

With the environmental impact of cryptomining gaining more attention, helped by Tesla citing it as why the EV maker no longer accepts BTC, more firms are embracing carbon-free mining. Energy Harbor Corp. just announced a five-year partnership with Standard Power to provide nuclear power to the former’s new Bitcoin blockchain mining center in Coshocton, Ohio, from this December.

Other states and countries are looking at nuclear-powered cryptomining options, along with alternative power sources such as hydroelectric and even volcanic. You could also use a Game Boy, though mining one Bitcoin will take a couple of quadrillion years.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/90400-nuclear-powered-cryptomining-plants-coming-us.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

There are currently over 10,800 cryptoscam coins which are right now going negative.

How many do we need???

 

[brucek]

Not easy to unpack what's going on here, but am I right that this is a company that owns an existing nuclear power plant, that is looking to monetize existing excess capacity by mining with it?

If I were a ratepayer in the county I'd sure want to know the mining subsidiary was paying at least at much for its electricity as I was.

 

[Peter Farkas]

Not easy to unpack what's going on here, but am I right that this is a company that owns an existing nuclear power plant, that is looking to monetize existing excess capacity by mining with it?

If I were a ratepayer in the county I'd sure want to know the mining subsidiary was paying at least at much for its electricity as I was.

you can bet they won't pay the same price as we do. A nuclear power plant CEO wanted to the same in my country, but the idea got scrapped because he wanted to provide electricity for free to the mining farm.

 

[Uncle Al]

Just follow the money ..... nothing complicated about it ...

 

[WallyAlligator]

I thought Perry and Davis Besse nuclear plants were not selected in the PJM capacity auction for this year back when FirstEnergy was planning to shut them down. Doesn't this mean they need find an alternate market to sell their electricity since the plants continue to run?

 

[Lionvibez]

Wait isn't there push back usually for nuclear just for power generation, now its all green lights for mining?

 

[wiyosaya]

Trading the immediacy of carbon pollution crapto mining for the longevity of nuclear waste crapto mining. Makes perfect sense. NOT. IMO.

 

[wiyosaya]

Wait isn't there push back usually for nuclear just for power generation, now its all green lights for mining?

Just wait until regulators get their ear full of this idi0cy!

 

[wiyosaya]

There are currently over 10,800 cryptoscam coins which are right now going negative.

How many do we need???

Clearly, we need more.

 

[mbrowne5061]

you can bet they won't pay the same price as we do. A nuclear power plant CEO wanted to the same in my country, but the idea got scrapped because he wanted to provide electricity for free to the mining farm.

Definitely wasn't going to be for free. I'd bet he was getting BTC as the payment. I'd also bet at least some (if not most) of the coin would be going through the wash first, to disguise how much he made vs how much the plant made.

 

[JKnight]

Have them pay their electric bill in bitcoin.

 

[defaultluser]

I guarantee that is just worthless hopeful PR, and if these Nukes actually charged these folks what they have to to be profitable, the folks would just go back to Iran in the fall.

Since the equipment's portable, these pigs will follow the cheapest "not temporarily banned" power options they can find.

Iran Bans Bitcoin Mining, Echoing China, After Blackouts

Iran banned the mining of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin after a series of blackouts across major cities, in the latest sign of growing unease over the digital asset’s energy usage.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[emmzo]

Carbon free nuclear power facilities? Are these guys serious? So, the tones of nuclear waste they produce is so much better than burned fossil fuel? Bitcoin should get a big bump on this news.

 

[Arbie]

Carbon free nuclear power facilities?

Nuclear waste doesn't generate carbon. It does generate a small amount of heat as it decays.

 

[Aceseven]

Wait isn't there push back usually for nuclear just for power generation, now its all green lights for mining?

Of course, because someone may end up filthy rich, it's the american way.

Now if they were used to power a way to give people free healthcare then there would be an issue, and they would sadly, need to be demolished.

 

[emmzo]

Nuclear waste doesn't generate carbon. It does generate a small amount of heat as it decays.

I thought it was obvious I wasn`t debating the fact nuclear power does not generate carbon, duh, but the naming itself, which tricks most people to think it is green, because they think of fossil fuel carbon as the only culprit for climate change.

 

[yannus]

Nuclear waste doesn't generate carbon. It does generate a small amount of heat as it decays.

It generates only extremely, very, moderately and little radioactive waste and in quantities inversely proportional. That means a huge quantity of little radioactive waste, less moderately radioactive waste... etc. And also a tremendous amount of hot water.

 

[OortCloud]

When will this crypto-farce stop. It needs banning and fast.

 

[Bobbydpue]

Carbon free nuclear power facilities? Are these guys serious? So, the tones of nuclear waste they produce is so much better than burned fossil fuel? Bitcoin should get a big bump on this news.

The generation of electricity from a typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear power station, which would supply the needs of more than a million people, produces only three cubic metres of vitrified high-level waste per year, if the used fuel is recycled. In comparison, a 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power station produces approximately 300,000 tonnes of ash and more than 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, every year.

 

[Markoni35]

Nuclear waste doesn't generate carbon. It does generate a small amount of heat as it decays.

And a lot of radioactivity. Especially when the owners are cheap and hire the cheapest company to get rid of the waste. Which is usually owned by Mafia. They of course dump the barrels directly into the ocean. Cheapest solution. Then the vegans say: "You should eat healthy sea grass, it's full of vitamins and energy".

Yes, radioactive energy. Makes your children glow in the dark. So you can find them easier.

 

[DjoCoeur]

They are wasting their time. In the next decade the quantum computers will create cryptocurrencies so easily and in such large numbers that it will be worth nothing. And maybe it could be used to hack the encryption in a few milliseconds. I guess North Korea can't wait.

 

[Avro Arrow]

“It [the facility] will provide low-cost, reliable, carbon-free power to the data center clients on campus. This allows clients to benefit from carbon-free, 24/7 power being supplied directly to the campus, without the intermittency that renewable energy can experience, or requiring fossil fuels,” said Talen Energy.
Talen Energy is full of it. Hydropower is renewable and doesn't have "intermittency". This is just a BS excuse to build more fission reactors.

 

[Arbie]

And a lot of radioactivity. Especially when the owners are cheap and hire the cheapest company to get rid of the waste. Which is usually owned by Mafia. They of course dump the barrels directly into the ocean. Cheapest solution. Then the vegans say: "You should eat healthy sea grass, it's full of vitamins and energy".

Yes, radioactive energy. Makes your children glow in the dark. So you can find them easier.

Don't think so. Not in the US.

 

[Arbie]

It generates only extremely, very, moderately and little radioactive waste and in quantities inversely proportional. That means a huge quantity of little radioactive waste, less moderately radioactive waste... etc. And also a tremendous amount of hot water.

It doesn't generate hot water. It sits and decays.