US regulator approves $1.9 billion loan to spin up Iowa's dead nuclear reactor for Google

Google is a step closer to getting access to nuclear power for its AI data centers. US regulator approves $1.9 billion loan to spin up Iowa’s dead nuclear reactor for Google. Big Tech US regulator approves $1.9 billion loan to spin up Iowa’s dead nuclear reactor for Google The project will create ‘thousands’ of direct and indirect jobs By Steve Dent Sept.

Power from the plant will be purchased by Google for its AI data centers but also strengthen local grid reliability and create "thousands of direct and indirect jobs," NextEra said last year. With the rise of AI, Google and other data center companies have been scrambling to find energy to power them. Google made a pledge to offset its power usage with green and renewable energy sources and achieved that goal in 2018.

The company recently partnered with a natural gas power plant to provide energy for one of its data centers in Texas. Other data centers run by Tesla, Meta and others have also used dirty grid energy or even obtained their own natural gas power generators. That makes Google’s nuclear deal a potential game-changer, giving the company relatively clean power when it comes to emissions (though not nuclear waste).

The Play Store is also getting some UI tweaks. Google Wallet will now let you add physical transit cards and balances with NFC.

It brings support for adding physical transit cards and balances to Google Wallet. The Play Store will also get a new navigation bar and an improved “Similar Apps” section.

Google released a new version of Google Play Services, bringing a useful new feature to Google Wallet alongside several developer-oriented features. The latest version of Google Play Services (v26.35) adds a handy feature for frequent transit card users: you can now add your physical transit cards and balances to the Google Wallet app using NFC.

This means you will soon be able to use your NFC-compatible Android phone to tap and access public transport without carrying a physical transit card. It’s worth noting that this feature uses NFC, so you won’t be able to add transit cards to the Wallet app on phones without an NFC chip.

The DOE has plans to restart three mothballed power plants, both to feed the grid and AI data centers, so the new loan is a clear step toward that goal.