The New Nuclear Age: Why the World Is Rethinking Atomic Power

Executive Summary

Throughout history, the commercialization of new forms of energy has given rise to fossil fuel conglomerates and renewable energy enterprises, powered energy-intensive technologies, and created new global investment opportunities. As countries now race to secure the massive amounts of energy needed for leadership in artificial intelligence, nuclear energy is newly positioned to meet the moment.

When nuclear power initially rose to prominence during the Cold War, it became a defining feature of the era, symbolizing both existential threat and scientific triumph. In the decades after the Second World War, countries raced to develop civilian nuclear programs, lured by the promise of energy too cheap to meter. But after accidents like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, the momentum behind nuclear energy stalled. Public opposition surged, regulatory burdens grew, and innovation slowed. Today, nuclear energy makes up just 9% of the global electricity mix, down from approximately 18% in the late 1990s.

After decades of underinvestment, a convergence of generational technological breakthroughs, intensifying geopolitical competition, and the need for clean, dense, reliable power are positioning nuclear energy for a renaissance.

But the next nuclear age will look different from the last. While nuclear energy is typically associated with nuclear fission on account of its commercialization decades ago, there are actually two distinct forms of nuclear energy that exist, fission and fusion. Innovations in fission like small modular reactors (SMRs) are shaping what the revival of traditional nuclear fission could look like. Separately, the advent of fusion energy represents a technological breakthrough that could revolutionize how energy is generated, with the potential to disrupt global energy markets. Taken together, these innovations in fission and fusion could change not just how nuclear power is produced, but how nations compete, cooperate, and secure their energy futures.

The commercial opportunities are far-reaching: as public and private sector investment flows into nuclear technology companies, investments will likewise be needed in the broader nuclear supply chain. Globally, countries that master advanced nuclear technologies will gain not only energy security but also longstanding commercial relationships, soft power, and the ability to shape global norms. Capturing this opportunity will require increased investment, as well as new regulatory frameworks and forms of government support.

In the United States, President Trump’s promise to quadruple nuclear power generation by 2050 may be the starting gun for a race to reassert American leadership in nuclear power. But in doing so, US policymakers and corporate leaders must contend with a domestic industry that has become less competitive compared to that of countries like China and Russia. This paper examines the current landscape of nuclear energy, what comes next, and what it means for countries around the world.

AI Infrastructure Boosts Nuclear Energy Demand

Before the rise of AI with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, global electricity demand was already expected to grow significantly due to population growth, the economic growth and urbanization of emerging economies, and the electrification of sectors like transportation. Now, AI is driving an even greater surge in demand. Current estimates forecast global electricity demand to nearly double by 2050. 

Data center power demand is projected to rise by as much as 165% by 2030, bringing global data center capacity to about 137 GW—roughly 60% of which will need to be met with new generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs Research. While hyperscalers are largely turning to natural gas to meet current demand since the infrastructure is already in place, the overarching need to secure firm, dispatchable power has opened the door to creative solutions. The desire to keep carbon emissions in check–a long-term consideration for many large tech companies with net zero pledges–has also underlined the need to develop sustainable power sources, while avoiding the intermittency issues of wind and solar.

Taken together, the result is a renewed interest in nuclear power from both policymakers and business leaders. After years of virtually stagnant growth, global investment in nuclear power generation grew at a CAGR of 14% between 2020-2024. That growth is only set to accelerate. At COP28, 25 countries pledged to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Since then, that number has grown to 31, and large financial institutions and major energy users (including Amazon, Google, and Meta) have joined that pledge.

In fact, hyperscalers have been a key driver of renewed investment, particularly in the United States, as demonstrated by Microsoft’s 835MW power-purchase agreement (PPA) to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear fission power plant, and Meta’s 20-year PPA with the Clinton fission plant in Illinois, both of which were done with Constellation Energy. Amazon has also signed a PPA with Talen Energy Corporation for almost 2GW of nuclear electricity to power its AI and cloud data centers in Pennsylvania. The large-scale nature of nuclear fission plants—most plants are 1GW or greater—makes them a particularly appealing solution for meeting the energy demands of large-load power consumers, like AI data centers.

But hyperscalers have also helped lead investment in the commercialization of next-generation nuclear power, namely small modular reactors (SMRs) and fusion energy. These technologies, long brushed off as too-far from commercialization, are now drawing significant public and private sector support.

Rising Power Demand Brings Nuclear Fission Back to the Foreground

Scientists working for the Manhattan Project in the 1940s first harnessed nuclear fission, the process of splitting heavy atomic nuclei to release massive amounts of energy, during World War II. By the 1960s, countries began to invest heavily in nuclear power generation. The general sense of energy insecurity felt throughout the Cold War helped propel investment—in the decade after the 1973 Oil Embargo, construction started on approximately 170GW of nuclear capacity.