A private company is proposing the first-ever nuclear-powered AI data center campus—and they want to build it in Idaho.

Deep Atomic has submitted a plan to the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a small modular reactor (SMR) and a hyperscale data center at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Their goal? To create a national model for nuclear-powered artificial intelligence infrastructure.

But the public hasn’t been asked what we think.

There have been no public hearings, no environmental impact review, and no clear federal framework for how AI infrastructure should intersect with nuclear energy.

We are calling on the U.S. Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Idaho state officials to:

• Pause approval of Deep Atomic’s project until a full environmental review is completed
• Require a public safety and climate impact report, including seismic, water, and waste risk assessments
• Bar deployment of nuclear-powered AI infrastructure until federal standards for AI risk and data center emissions are in place
• Ensure this project is governed as a public-interest utility, not a private AI profit engine.

Idaho is not a test lab for Silicon Valley’s energy experiments. Nuclear energy is a serious long-term commitment, with risks that extend far beyond one company’s vision. And while AI may be the future, building it on private nuclear infrastructure without oversight is dangerous, undemocratic, and environmentally reckless.

We are not anti-innovation. But innovation must not outpace safety, transparency, and climate responsibility.

Before a single shovel hits the ground, the public deserves answers—and the planet deserves protection.