Northrop Grumman is producing vital semiconductor chips in the U.S.

The Virginia-based defense company manufactures millions of chips in America each year, FOX Business correspondent Max Gorden reported Friday from its factory in Baltimore, Maryland.

At the facility, Gorden showed a “wafer” that contained “thousands of microchips.”

“They’re all on here, and then they’re eventually cut out toward the end of the process,” he explained.

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He also showed the “clean room” where he said Northrop Grumman staff were “actually testing out these microchips” before they left the production line.

The company makes the chips for usage in military aircraft, defense ground radar systems, electronic warfare systems, space and weather satellites and other technology, according to Northrop Grumman.

Production of a chip typically takes “a couple of weeks” but the defense company can “speed things up if there’s a national security need,” according to Gorden.

The chips can cost anywhere from a “couple of cents” to “hundreds of thousands of dollars” depending on the complexity, with the average being in the “tens to hundreds of dollars,” he reported.

Northrop Grumman Corp

Northrop Grumman senior manager Dave Shahin told FOX Business that the microelectronics made at the Maryland facility “are the core of those national defense systems.”

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“They are the brains and the nervous system that allows those sensors to react to the world around them and ultimately enables them to do their jobs and to keep our war fighters safe,” Shahin said.

Northrop Grumman, which has produced its chips entirely in the U.S. for many decades, is in a “good position,” Gordon reported.

The Trump administration has been looking at potentially levying tariffs against semiconductors imported into the U.S, with President Donald Trump saying earlier this week that chips from other countries could face a tariff at the end of this month. Countries such as Taiwan, China and South Korea are among some of the countries that are major producers of semiconductors.

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In addition to microelectronics, Northrop Grumman produces a broad range of military aircraft, defense weapons and systems, mission systems and other technology.

The company’s market capitalization hovered around $74.64 billion as of Friday afternoon.

Nuclear energy in the United States is undergoing a revival.

FOX Business correspondent Jeff Flock, reporting Wednesday from the site of a planned Natura Resources small modular nuclear reactor in Texas, said the U.S. has a “voracious appetite for energy” that nuclear reactors can help meet.

Natura Resources, founded by Doug Robinson, is developing molten salt reactors, a type of advanced small nuclear reactor. Its molten salt research reactor at Abilene Christian University in west-central Texas is scheduled to go live in just a couple of years.

Small modular reactors are “small, affordable, safe, dispatchable, clean energy that we can put anywhere we need it,” Robinson told Flock.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) brought attention to America’s growing need for more power, according to the Natura Resources founder and president.

“AI is, I call it the shark fin above the water,” he said. “The need for power, demand for power increase, was always there.”

A report released in December by GridStrategies forecast a 15.8% jump in electricity demand for the U.S. by 2029. Data centers, manufacturing and electrification will be major drivers of that increase, the report said.

AI technology relies on data centers.

Earlier this month, a separate International Energy Administration report found that data center electricity consumption in the U.S. will see a 130% jump from 2024 to 2030.

Robinson told Flock there are “two projects that have construction permits from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission” for advanced nuclear reactors.

“We are one of those,” he said.

“We’re standing in the only advanced reactor facility in the nation,” Robinson added during the interview. “So we are moving toward construction of this reactor with our commercial reactors running parallel.”

Numerous states have taken action in recent years to explore the potential of advanced nuclear reactors or to take steps to pave the way for them in the future amid growing interest in the technology.

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Twenty-five states took “pro-nuclear” action in some form last year, according to a January report from the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Some traditional nuclear reactors are slated to reopen in the coming years.

For example, Constellation announced in September that it had inked a 20-year electricity purchase agreement with Microsoft that will “pave the way” for Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 reactor to start back up in Pennsylvania.

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More recently, in April, Holtec International received a third loan disbursement worth $46.7 million allocated for its future reopening of Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Plant from the Department of Energy. Its second loan disbursement of nearly $56.8 million had previously been released in mid-March.

Nuclear energy accounted for roughly 18% of America’s power in 2024, according to the DOE.

Meta Platforms has entered a deal to purchase nuclear power from Constellation Energy Corporation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois.

Constellation announced the deal with the tech giant on Tuesday, saying it “supports the relicensing and continued operations” of the nuclear power plant and Meta’s clean energy goals.

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The power purchase agreement starts in 2027 and will span 20 years.

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Constellation said the deal will allow its Clinton Clean Energy Center to “continue to flow power onto the local grid” with Meta “purchasing the plant’s clean energy attributes as part of its commitment to match 100% of its electricity use with clean and renewable energy.”

The nuclear power plant will add 30 megawatts of increased output from nuclear uprates through the deal with Meta, according to the company. Its reactor can currently generate up to 1,092 megawatts.

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“We are excited to partner with Constellation and the Clinton community to ensure the long-term operations of the nuclear plant, add new capacity, and help preserve over 1,000 jobs,” Meta Head of Global Energy Urvi Parekh said in a statement. “Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions.”

The deal comes as tech companies like Meta, Microsoft and Google have been looking to nuclear energy for electricity as they continue to ramp up their AI efforts.

Google announced in early May that it would “provide early-stage capital” to help Elementl Power “prepare three potential sites in the U.S. for advanced nuclear projects” with the “option for commercial off-take” once they are built and start generating electricity.

Constellation announced last fall that it inked a 20-year electricity purchase agreement with Microsoft that would “pave the way” for Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 reactor to start back up in Pennsylvania.

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Meta’s newly announced agreement with Constellation will keep the Clinton nuclear reactor from shutting down after its Zero Emission Credit ends in mid-2027, Constellation said.

Ticker Security Last Change Change % META META PLATFORMS INC. 713.45 +8.64 +1.23% CEG CONSTELLATION ENERGY CORP. 323.65 +5.86 +1.84%

The energy company also said it was looking into ways to extend Clinton Clean Energy Center’s existing early site permit or “seek a new construction permit” from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop an advanced nuclear reactor or small modular reactor at the facility now that the plant will be open for 20 more years.

The U.S. is projected to see a 15.8% jump in electricity demand by 2029, with data centers, manufacturing and electrification being major contributors, according to a report from GridStrategies.

Both AI and the data centers they rely on require large amounts of electricity.

The International Energy Administration forecasted in April that U.S. electricity consumption from AI and data centers will soar 130% from 2024 to 2030.

The world, particularly the United States, is projected to see a massive jump in data center and artificial intelligence demand for electricity by 2030, per a recently released International Energy Agency (IEA) report.

The IEA projected in its “Energy and AI” report that global electricity demand from data centers will hit about 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030, a nearly 128% increase from 415 TWh of power they used in 2024.

“AI will be the most significant driver of this increase, with electricity demand from AI-optimized data centers projected to more than quadruple by 2030,” the IEA said.

According to the report, electricity demand from data centers in the U.S. will be the source of “nearly half” of the anticipated doubling of data center-driven power demand that the world is projected to see by that year.

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In the U.S., data centers will need about 240 TWh in 2030. The IEA said that would mark a 130% jump from the country’s current data center power consumption levels.

Electricity consumption from data centers will notch a roughly 15%-per-year increase between 2024 and 2030, according to the IEA.

Still, less than 10% of the world’s overall growth in electricity demand by 2030 will come from data centers’ power needs, the report said. And of all the global electricity consumption anticipated in 2030, the IEA said data centers will account for “just under” 3%.

However, there is good news in the report. Energy companies will utilize AI to help with efficiency and operations. According to the report, “AI is already being deployed by energy companies to transform and optimize energy and mineral supply, electricity generation and transmission, and energy consumption. There are numerous objectives in play, including reducing costs, enhancing supply, extending asset lifetimes, reducing downtime and lowering emissions.”

Renewable energy sources will “meet nearly half of the additional demand, followed by natural gas and coal, with nuclear starting to play an increasingly important role towards the end of this decade and beyond,” the IEA said.

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The report linked the expected prominence of renewables and natural gas in addressing data centers’ projected increase in electricity demand by 2030 to their “cost-competitivess and availability in key markets.”

In the U.S., the IEA projects natural gas will see an increase of more than 130 TWh each year through 2030 in power generation for data centers.

By 2030, some 110 TWh more of electricity generation from renewables for data centers will become available, the report said.

The IEA predicts renewables and small modular nuclear reactors will bring down the “need for additional natural gas-fired generation” after 2030 “so that by 2035 low-emissions sources account for over half of the United States’ data centre electricity supply mix.”

Small modular reactors are a type of advanced nuclear reactor.

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They “can produce a large amount of low-carbon electricity but [are] physically smaller than a conventional reactor,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The IEA said small modular reactors are expected to go live “around 2030.”

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The Brief Developers have asked officials to approve the construction of a $9.7 billion data center campus near LaGrange. Project West could bring hundreds of high-paying jobs and a nearly $10 billion investment to Troup County, developers say. Demand for data centers has ballooned in recent years due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

A data center campus proposed to be constructed near LaGrange could bring nearly 600 jobs to Troup County.

Developers say the project, named Project West, would bring a nearly $10 billion investment over the next decade.

What we know:

The campus would cover over 513 acres near Interstate 85 and Hamilton Road in LaGrange.

Plans for the project include six 250,000-square-foot data buildings with a capacity of 600 megawatts.

A map of the proposed data center site (Courtesy of Project West)

A study by the Economic Impact Group LLC estimates that the project would generate 570 jobs with an average annual salary of $80,000 and contribute $762 million in net economic benefit to the city and county, developers said.

What they’re saying:

The project is being led by LaGrange resident Joshua Harrison.

“We are excited to bring this level of investment and innovation to LaGrange,” said Harrelson. “This project is not just about economic growth—it’s about creating long-term opportunities for the people of Troup County.”

He said the project is working with Georgia Power and the City of LaGrange to secure the power needed for the data center infrastructure.

Big picture view:

Demand for data centers has ballooned in recent years due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and local governments in Georgia and across the country are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies.

Nearly 100 data centers are already established in Georgia. The majority of these are in the metro Atlanta area.

But as data centers begin to move into more densely populated areas, some residents are pushing back over concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities.

Last year, the Atlanta City Council approved ordinances prohibiting data centers around the Beltline or within a half-mile of transit centers such as MARTA stations or bus stops.

What’s next:

If approved, the first phase of the project will be completed in 2028.

There is no word on which companies may be involved in the project.