- Bitcoin mining firm Compass Mining has signed a deal with clean energy company Oklo to use power through their advanced fission nuclear process
- Advanced fission is more powerful and less energy intensive than regular nuclear power
- Bitcoin mining firms have come under increasing pressure to improve their environmental credentials
California-based clean energy company Oklo has signed a 20-year deal with Delaware-based Bitcoin mining company Compass Mining to provide nuclear power through a process called advanced fission. The partnership, announced on Wednesday, will allow Compass to blend the new technology with their existing fossil fuel supply to carry out their Bitcoin mining operations in a more environmentally friendly way. The news follows the announcement this week from Ohio Bitcoin mining firm Standard Power that it is planning to open a nuclear-powered Bitcoin mining site in an abandoned paper mill.
Advanced Fission Offers Greater Output From Less Energy
While nuclear powered Bitcoin mining is in itself a new phenomenon, the use of advanced fission is even newer. Advanced fission has in fact been researched for many years but has only been put to practical use in recent years. The practice involves a different way of making the atoms inside the reactor interact with each other, the upshot being that advanced fission plants can generate up to three times the power of a standard small nuclear reactor with a smaller carbon footprint.
Bitcoin Mining Continues its Environmental Push
Oklo says that not only can its advanced fission houses produce power for up to 20 years without the need to refuel but it also has the capabilities to turn nuclear waste into clean energy. Compass Mining has clearly seen the potential in using this reliable and environmentally friendly energy source in its Bitcoin mining activities, with co-founder and CEO Whit Gibbs saying that the deal could help “push the Bitcoin mining industry forward into a new phase of cheap and reliable power from advanced fission.”
Earlier this week Ohio-based Bitcoin mining firm Standard Power announced their own nuclear power tie-in, with a nearby nuclear power plant supplying the electricity to a new plant due to open in December 2021.
