Norman and the NERD: Google Insider Shares How the Search for Clean Nuclear Energy Went Ballistic at One of the World’s Largest Tech Companies With a Strange Detour Via Cold Fusion
- The resurgence of cold fusion piqued Google’s curiosity, but did not provide conclusive evidence.
- Google’s bold nuclear projects highlighted innovation beyond traditional technology
- Google’s NERD explored nuclear energy with bold and groundbreaking ideas
Google has been at the center of many innovative developments, but its foray into nuclear power development – aided by unexpected detours into cold fusion and machine learning – is a lesser-known chapter of its innovation journey.
To achieve these goals, Google worked with TAE to improve Norman, a machine designed for advanced plasma experiments, and NERD (Nuclear Energy R&D), Google’s bold program to explore clean nuclear energy.
A Google insider has now shed light on how this journey unfolded, complete with groundbreaking successes, bureaucratic battles, and the odd sidetrack into the discredited realm of cold fusion.
Tackling advanced nuclear policies
Google’s interest in nuclear energy was not just about technology, but also extended to policy reform.
Working with think tanks like Third Way, Google has worked to create a policy landscape conducive to advanced nuclear development. Advanced reactor designs, which promise safety, efficiency and better waste management, often face bureaucratic hurdles due to outdated regulatory frameworks.
To address this, the NERD team supported legislative efforts, resulting in multiple laws that modernized the nuclear license and provided funding for demonstration projects.
This plea paid off. The U.S. federal government has committed billions to support the next wave of nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors (SMRs). Notably, Google recently signed an agreement to purchase nuclear power from SMRs, signaling its practical commitment to the nuclear renaissance.
In the field of nuclear fusion, Google combined its computer skills with plasma research at TAE Technologies. The centerpiece of this effort was Norman, a reactor designed to heat plasma to extreme temperatures. The ‘optometrist algorithm’, a machine learning tool that optimized the reactor settings, was key to this initiative.
Like an optometrist adjusting lenses for clarity, this algorithm allowed physicists to efficiently refine experiments, resulting in groundbreaking improvements in plasma stability and temperature control.
These collaborations took TAE to new heights, as Norman exceeded its original goals, and the insights gained fueled the development of Copernicus, a reactor that targets the holy grail of energy breakeven, where energy output equals input.
NERD’s most unconventional project, however, was the exploration of low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR), colloquially known as cold fusion. As the credibility of cold fusion was damaged by controversial claims in the late 1980s, Google approached the subject with rigorous scientific research. In collaboration with external researchers, Google funded twelve projects investigating whether deviations from previous experiments could lead to a breakthrough.
The result? No evidence of cold fusion, but a wealth of peer-reviewed publications and unexpected applications. Nevertheless, Google’s nuclear efforts did not stop at merger and policy. The company investigated nuclear excitation, an advanced method to tailor nuclear reactions for energy generation or waste reduction.
The scale of Google’s ambition, from transforming US nuclear policy to harnessing machine learning in fusion and re-examining debunked science, is absolutely ballsy. This unconventional journey reflects Google’s broader philosophy: no idea is too big, too wild or too controversial to explore. Although not every initiative was successful, each contributed to a better understanding of the potential of nuclear energy.
Via IEEE spectrum