Why not place these data centres on the coast and use desalinated seawater? The key to all this and affordability is energy and its cost!

If we had carbon free MSR thorium and or carbon free MSR nuclear waste burners supplying the almost free energy component? We could do marvellous things including extracting copious water directly from the atmosphere and massive CO2 from seawater.

As well as endlessly sustainable alternative fuel, fertilizers and plastics. Energy consumption and its current cost, the massive inhibitor/preventer!

CO2 taken as dry ice is subzero and we used to use it in lieu of freezers and refrigeration! And as easy as to make!

Perhaps the data centres could be somehow cooled with that, or liquid oxygen or hydrogen extracted from seawater and that could mean they could be located on worthless arid coastal land not suitable for agriculture?

All that's missing is the affordable energy component!
Alan B.

Nuclear waste with a half-life of thousands of years is not very radioactive. Other things that are radioactive, include bananas, Brazil nut and milk, as is granite, a common building material. People living in areas with twice normal background radiation have half the cancer outcomes of people living in areas with normal background radiation.
Alan B.

And why couldn’t they be built in costal locations and cooled with sea water?

Flood Lake Eyre & very soon the resulting evaporation will bring rain & once established as permanent, a huge area of inland Australia will be green with plenty of water.

I can't believe this discussion.
If nuclear reactors can be kept cool why not a batch of computers ?
Anyway, not a drop of water needs to be added. Just cool it in a
cooling tower. It is done all the time.