The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that nuclear power is suddenly hip again, given its ties to artificial intelligence and roaring demand for power-hungry data centres. The Globe's David Berman writes that this week, a number of stocks tied to North America's nuclear power arsenal rallied after Amazon announced a major investment in power projects to feed its rising need for new, stable sources of clean energy. Microsoft, Google and Oracle also have plans to harness nuclear power. Amazon teamed up with Dominion Energy to back the development of small modular reactors, or SMRs, in Virginia, where power demand is expected to double over the next 15 years. The company is also part of a new $500-million (U.S.) financing deal with X-energy Reactor, a privately held SMR developer. Amazon hopes that smaller reactors can be built faster and on budget, compared with larger power plants that might become weighed down by delays and cost overruns. SMRs also have a smaller footprint, making them suited to more areas. Still, they are not exactly speedy builds right now in these relatively early days for the advanced technology. The deal with Dominion Energy is merely a first step in evaluating the technology.