this post was submitted on 14 May 2026
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81
Nuclear Power Plants Far More Popular Than AI Data Centers For Local Areas (news.gallup.com)
submitted 1 day ago by beep@piefed.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
16 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1122224/nuclear-power-plants-far-more-popular-than-ai-data-centers-for-local-areas

Seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half, 48%, who are strongly opposed. Barely a quarter favor these projects, with 7% strongly in favor.

These results, from a March 2-18 Gallup survey, represent the first time Gallup has asked about data center construction, a topic that has met fierce opposition from local residents in many parts of the country. These data centers house computing equipment that helps power AI technology used by businesses, universities and other institutions. The centers cover large areas of land, require extensive amounts of electricity to operate and need substantial water to cool the equipment, raising concerns about their impact on the environment and local electric bills.

The data center question parallels the wording Gallup uses to ask about local nuclear power plant construction. In the same March survey, 53% of Americans say they oppose building a nuclear energy plant in their area, far less than the 71% opposed to data center construction. Since Gallup first asked the nuclear power plant question in 2001, the high point in opposition has been 63%.

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[–] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Why not?

We have batteries, geothermal, hydro & wind.

There are already countries that are 100% renewable, without a global grid.

Country Renewable % Rest of mix
Bhutan ~100% Negligible fossil backup; nearly all hydro — RatedPower
Albania ~100% Small fossil gas imports during drought years; solar growing to 9% of capacity — RatedPower
Paraguay ~100% Negligible; exports large surplus hydro to Brazil & Argentina — RatedPower
Iceland ~99% ~1% oil/gas peaking; geothermal + hydro dominant — Our World in Data
Costa Rica ~99% ~1% diesel backup generation — Our World in Data
Nepal ~99% ~1% fossil fuel; imports some coal-based power from India during dry season — RatedPower
Norway ~98% ~1% fossil gas, ~1% other; minor imports during low-hydro periods — Our World in Data
[–] echodot@feddit.uk 1 points 9 hours ago

Yeah that's my point. It's all very well Norway being able to produce vast amounts of electricity but how do you transfer that to Japan or Australia? You can't because there isn't a global power distribution network you can't take electricity from any arbitrary point on the planet and deliver it to any other arbitrary point on the planet and until we develop such an interconnected system we're going to have to need independent power generation systems some of which won't be renewable.