Thursday, Jul 30, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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The Claim

A new data center in Utah will release waste heat and energy into the atmosphere each day equivalent to the energy of 23 atomic bombs.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The headline number is broadly supported as a full-buildout energy-equivalence calculation, not a literal claim about explosions. Using the cited thermal load, 24 hours of operation comes out to roughly the energy of 23 Hiroshima-scale atomic bombs. But the figure is a projected maximum for full buildout, not a confirmed day-one or current daily release rate.

Caveats

  • This is an energy-equivalence analogy only; it does not mean nuclear-blast, radiation, or mushroom-cloud effects.
  • The 23-bomb figure is tied to projected full buildout and continuous operation, not the project’s initial phases.
  • The exact count depends on which bomb yield is used; the reporting appears to assume a Hiroshima-scale bomb.

The Receipts

  1. Press Release: Analysis Finds Box Elder Data Center Could Release as Much Heat as 23 Atomic Bombs Per Day

    Grow the Flow Utah

  2. ‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan

    The Guardian

  3. Proposed Utah AI data center could generate heat equivalent to 23 Hiroshima bombs per day, physicist warns

    Tech Startups

  4. This $1,000,000,000 AI data centre could dump 23 nuclear bombs worth of energy per day

    Metro

  5. Utah's fragile desert could feel like the Sahara if a massive AI data center gets built

    Grist

  6. Beyond data centers: Utah governor issues wake-up call on new Cold War contest over AI

    Deseret News

  7. Scientists raise concerns over hyperscale data center impact on ecology

    KSL.com

  8. New Data Center Equivalent to Setting Off 23 Nuclear Bombs Per Day, Professor Finds

    Futurism

  9. A physics professor at USU explained that the 9 GW needed to power the data cent...

    The Salt Lake Tribune (Facebook post)

  10. Gary Kucher's Post - LinkedIn

    LinkedIn

+ 18 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Utah

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