From shopping online and streaming a movie to electrifying vehicles and expanding industrial manufacturing, technology is leading to growing energy needs. Amazon is planning for the future energy needs of our business and customers while remaining committed to our Climate Pledge and becoming a more sustainable company.

One way we’re doing this is by investing in nuclear power, a safe, carbon-free energy source that can be brought online at scale. Over the past year, Amazon has invested more than $1 billion across nuclear energy projects and technologies in the U.S., while also supporting research on topics like nuclear fusion, and more.

Here are seven ways we’re thinking big about the future of nuclear energy:

1. Advancing small modular reactors

We’ve invested more than $500 million to help develop Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), including an initial SMR project with Energy Northwest in Washington. SMRs are an advanced kind of nuclear reactor with a smaller physical footprint, allowing them to be built closer to the grid and in more places. They also have faster build times than traditional reactors, helping them to come online sooner. SMRs can help power both Amazon operations and provide new sources of energy for homes, businesses, and more

2.Ensuring existing nuclear reactors stay online

Keeping existing nuclear energy plants operating is one of the fastest and most affordable ways we can ensure carbon-free energy is available at scale. That’s why we’re partnering with Talen Energy to build a data center campus next to the Susquehanna nuclear facility in Pennsylvania. This agreement can help power our operations and ensures that the nuclear plant has the funding to keep operating, make necessary repairs, and cover relicensing fees—while also making sure these costs aren’t passed down to local energy users. The project also brings economic benefits for local communities, including construction jobs, tax revenue, and other forms of support.

3. Strengthening U.S. energy independence and AI development

It is important that the U.S. secures its position as a global leader in AI development. To achieve this, we will need more reliable, carbon-free energy to enable these advanced technologies. At the same time, strengthening America’s energy independence and AI leadership are both important ways to support national security. By investing in next-generation nuclear technology and projects, we want to ensure the data centers supporting AI and other technological innovations can operate effectively across the U.S.

4. Creating and preserving jobs

Amazon’s investments in nuclear energy projects are expected to provide an economic boost for the local communities in which they reside. In Washington, the SMR project is expected to support up to 1,000 temporary construction jobs and as many as 100 or more permanent jobs, according to Energy Northwest, a public power operating agency. In Pennsylvania, the data center campus near Talen Energy’s nuclear plant is expected to create construction jobs and bring upgrades to local utility infrastructure. Our investment will also help preserve the existing 900 local jobs that help keep the facility up and running.

5. Investing capital in emerging nuclear technologies

Advancing next-generation nuclear technologies like SMRs requires investments that allow companies to immediately access the funds so they can innovate and grow. Amazon is making this kind of capital investment in X-energy, a leading developer of next-generation SMRs and fuel. This funding will help X-energy scale their operations, create new jobs, and advance more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear energy projects over the next 15 years.

6. Supporting nuclear research

We’re supporting research that explores the future of nuclear energy. For example, AWS supported a study released by the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) that demonstrates how AI can help us advance nuclear fusion as a new carbon-free energy source. Before the use of cloud computing and AI, fusion’s rate of progress was expected to take years, or even decades. CATF’s research finds that AI can fast-forward research, optimize designs, and improve diagnostics, making this solution a reality sooner.

7. Learning and being curious

Investing in new technologies that are still being developed is inherently risky and can come with unknowns. At Amazon, we’re a company of innovators and inventors, and we’re used to taking on big challenges. Whether it’s investing in new carbon-free energy technologies like SMRs or reimagining how our data centers can be powered more sustainably, we’re working on meeting our Climate Pledge commitment, while also creating solutions that will help our society transition to a brighter energy future.

This column originally appeared on Amazon’s website.

Amazon made an ambitious commitment to reach net-zero carbon across its global operations by 2040 as part of its co-founding of The Climate Pledge, and more than 550 companies around the world have joined Amazon in the Pledge. Since 2019 the company has improved its carbon intensity by 24%, reached its goal to match 100% of the electricity it uses across its operations with renewable energy, put more than 24,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road globally, and removed plastic air pillows from all delivery packaging at fulfillment centers globally.