1&1 Internet turn nuclear facility into green data center
November 14th, 2008 - Posted in nuclear energyby Matthew Humphries posted on November 14, 2008 8:30 am
A former nuclear power site located in Germany is about to become a very green data center.
The Hanau facility in Karslruhe, Germany, used to create mixed oxide rods, which involved the use of enriched uranium and plutonium, but also dealt with nuclear waste. It was built in the eighties and as with many nuclear facilities was the target of many protests. It eventually shut down in 1995 and has been dormant since.
As it was a site handling nuclear material it was not allowed to be sold or re-used once operations had stopped for a long period of time. That period ended in 2006 opening the way for the land to be regenerated for some other purpose. That’s when web hosting company 1&1 Internet stepped in with the intention of using it as a data center.
This is no ordinary data center, however, as the 107,000 square foot facility will be operated on renewable energy sources. 1&1 have also stated that because of the size of the area it is possible to cool the center with air pumped in from outside instead of installing standard air conditioning systems. This will significantly cut the energy requirements of the facility.
Speaking about the new Hanau facility, Oliver Mauss, CEO of 1&1 Internet said:
The new data centre in Hanau will further optimize the operational efficiency of our Internet services … Of course, it is a very pleasing side-effect that a formerly contentious nuclear plant is now being transformed into a green data centre.
Read more at Data Center Knowledge
Matthew’s Opinion
I know a lot of people take issue with the use of nuclear power. The nuclear waste that takes thousands of years to breakdown, and the scale of a catastrophe if a plant has a leak, is enough to scare anyone.
It is therefore quite fitting that such a site can be turned into something that looks like it will not only be very useful for our Internet needs, but also very green. Being run on renewable energy and cutting its energy needs with an air economization system (something Intel has proved works), means this is going to be a very environmentally friendly facility. It could possibly even set the bar for future data centers in terms of how to build them with the environment in mind.
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