The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) from US private sector partners to build and power artificial intelligence (AI) data centres at the Savannah River Site (SRS). This is in line with President Trump’s Executive Orders, Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence and Unleashing American Energy, which leverage federal land assets to quickly deploy data centres and energy generation projects. The RFP closes on 5 December.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the work being carried out at NNSA to harness AI will have an impact on national security as the Manhattan Project did in the 1940s,” said Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams. “Today’s solicitation is a great example of public-private partnership that accelerates scientific research to solve today’s challenges and strengthens US leadership in AI and energy infrastructure.”
NNSA has identified 10 tracts of land totalling 3,103 acres at SRS for AI infrastructure projects and seeks applications that integrate innovative energy generation and storage projects with AI data centres.
US private sector partners will submit proposals to potentially enter into one or more long-term leasing agreements at the site and will be responsible for building, operating, and decommissioning each infrastructure project. Partners must secure utility interconnection agreements. Proposals will be competitively evaluated for technological readiness, financial viability, and detailed plans to complete regulatory and permitting requirements.
In April, DOE released a Request for Information (RFI) to inform possible use of 16 DOE sites for rapid development of data centres and generation. The Department received significant input from stakeholders including AI companies, data centre developers, energy developers, and the broader public.
Earlier in September, DOE issued a Request for Application (RFA) seeking proposals from US companies to build and power AI data centres at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), closing on 7 November. Oak Ridge Reservation issued a similar RFP closing 1 December.
The Savannah River Site is a 310-square-mile (803-square-kilometre) site in Aiken, South Carolina, which was focused on the production of plutonium and tritium for use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War. In 1992, the focus at SRS turned to environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management, and research and development activities. It is home to Savannah River National Laboratory.
Savannah River and Oak Ridge and INL are three of the four sites – from an initial list of 16 – selected by DOE in July to move forward with plans to invite private sector partners to develop AI data centre and energy generation projects, in line with Executive Orders issued by the US President earlier in the year. The other site was the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
