Positioning bitcoin mining with carbon-free sources, such as nuclear power, offers huge benefits for the cryptocurrency industry as digital assets grow in popularity, acceptability, and engagement with the broader economy.

world nuclear news reports Cumulus Data, a subsidiary of independent power producer Talen Energy and a manufacturer of zero-carbon data centers, has completed installation on the first building of its nuclear-powered Susquehanna data center site in Pennsylvania.

Cumulus Data says the 1,200-acre complex will be the first of its kind in the United States when it begins hosting bitcoin mining and cloud computing services in the first quarter of 2023.

Bitcoin mining goes nuclear

The 48-megawatt, 300,000-square-foot data center powered frame is built, and multiple fiber routes are operational. The data center is powered by a direct link to the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant, which has a capacity of 2.5 gigawatts.

Nuclear power has the potential to become a major source of electricity for the bitcoin mining sector.

By providing stable, carbon-free electricity, nuclear reactors will help sustain the cryptocurrency ecosystem, encourage its expansion, and accelerate the general adoption of bitcoin assets.

A rendering from 2021 of the data center campus next to the Susquehanna power plant (Image: Linxon/World Nuclear News)

Bitcoin mining difficulty jumped 10.26% to a new all-time high of 37.59 trillion on Monday, as some US-based mining companies resumed operations after being knocked offline by snow cyclones.

Globally, cryptocurrency mining requires enormous amounts of electricity. According to an analyst, it consumes 77.78 TWh of energy, similar to Chile’s energy demand.

Those nuclear power plants that cannot dispose of 100 percent of their electricity can use the excess power for crypto mining to help in the process of decarbonizing the sector, which environmental activists have long clamored for.

Bitcoin mining center ready to accept tenants

Earlier this year, Cumulus Data CEO Alex Hernandez said the flagship Susquehanna data center will accept its first subscriber and begin commercial operations.

“We look forward to advancing our goal of solving the energy ‘trilemma,’ which we define as the growing demand for reliable, low-cost and carbon-free electricity from data center customers,” Hernández said.

Talen Energy announced in 2021 a partnership with American bitcoin mining company TeraWulf to build Nautilus Cryptomine on the site.

TeraWulf stated in a recent update that it was in the early phases of starting its mining process and anticipated that the cryptomine would deliver 50 megawatts of total mining output to TeraWulf in the first quarter of this year.

Although it may seem strange to attach a cryptocurrency data center to a nuclear power facility, CO2 emissions and rising electricity costs are becoming extremely important considerations for companies with extensive data center infrastructure.

Nuclear power plants provide a stable, zero-carbon source of energy.

BTC total market cap at $445 trillion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com

Nuclear power and Bitcoin mining: a perfect match

The unique value proposition for both sectors is made possible by the confluence of surplus and carbon-free nuclear-generated electricity.

Nuclear reactors will not only develop a new revenue stream by mining cryptocurrency, but will also help decarbonise an industry and increase bitcoin’s appeal to a large group of institutional investors with environmental, social and governance aspirations.

Vladimir Galabov, Director of Cloud and Data Center Research at Omdia, stated:

“Nuclear power has its place to help the data center reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.”

At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is trading at $23,091up 9.1% in the past seven days, Coingecko data shows.

Featured Image from Cryptoslate