‘We Did Not Invite You.’ Citizens Rage at Town Hall Over Proposed Nuclear AI Data Center
The University of Michigan is partnering with Los Alamos National Labs to build a massive data center in a small Michigan township. The residents say they were never consulted.
On Wednesday night, residents of Ypsilanti Township expressed their anger and concerns at a town hall hosted by the University of Michigan (U of M) and Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL). The University and LANL are planning to build a $1.2 billion hyperscale data center in the township. The project has raised concerns among citizens and local leaders about electricity costs, water usage, noise, and the potential for furthering nuclear weapon research.
During the town hall, U of M faculty director Patricia Hurn delivered a prepared statement about the various beneficial uses of the data center, including cancer care, power grid strengthening, drug discovery, and sustainable computing. However, the crowd mocked her and laughed at her remarks. LANL's lead engineer, Steven Ceccio, attempted to address practical concerns about the project's size and scope, comparing it to a commercial data center in Saline Township.
He was challenged by a man named Andy, who argued that the proposed center is actually at the top of the size bracket for data centers in the United States. As the evening progressed, more citizens shared their concerns about noise, water usage, and the potential for the data center to be a target in a drone strike. The University and LANL defended their project, emphasizing that it would be used for scientific research and development, and that there would be no plutonium on site or production of nuclear weapons.
However, the anger and mistrust towards the University and LANL only grew stronger throughout the night.
Written by urgent.news from 404 Media's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
