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A comment on Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up. Parent comment

Re:Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip f... by brewdad on Tuesday September 28, 2021 @01:52PM (#28685495)
A thunderstorm will wreak havoc on a fab. A single, power blip lasting less a second can ruin whatever chips were being processed. At a minimum there will need to be additional testing done to ensure there is no hidden damage.

The thunderstorms that central AZ gets are extremely isolated and basically only happen for about 6 weeks a year.

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Re:Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip f... by m4rtink on Tuesday September 28, 2021 @02:39PM (#28685997)
Don't they have any backup power to cover short blips ? Sure their power draw is massive, but given the potential loses one would exect sufficiently beefy and expensive backups in place so that a burned out generator in a power plant or tree on a line does not cost you billions.
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Re:Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip f... by seanmcdirmid on Tuesday September 28, 2021 @04:27PM (#28687086)
You would basically need to isolate yourself from the grid to be immune to any blips...it takes a while for a backup to come on line and even things out.
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