Kairos Power Taps Samsung C&T for $100M Nuclear Reactor Deal with Google

Kairos Power selected Samsung C&T to help build its 50-megawatt demonstration reactor for Google, a project targeting completion by 2030. Samsung C&T will make an equity investment and provide in-kind engineering services worth up to $100 million combined, Kairos said on September 21, 2026. The equity portion totals $70 million, a Kairos spokesperson told TechCrunch. Samsung C&T has built or helped build roughly a dozen nuclear reactors worldwide. Kairos is among a wave of nuclear startups benefiting from surging power demand from AI data centers. Google first signed a deal with the company in fall 2024 for reactors generating about half a gigawatt by 2035. Kairos is building two reactors in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Hermes 1 is a low-power demonstrator; Hermes 2 is its first commercial-scale unit, with output counting as the first 50 megawatts of the Google deal. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved construction in November 2024. Hermes 2, a fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor using TRISO fuel, is expected to begin operating in 2030.