As artificial intelligence pushes America’s power grid to breaking point, the once-dormant nuclear industry is experiencing an unprecedented renaissance—backed by Big Tech’s deepest pockets and Washington’s boldest energy gambit in decades.
The numbers tell an extraordinary story. By 2030, artificial intelligence operations will consume more electricity than the entire nation of Japan—roughly 1,000 terawatt-hours annually. That’s equivalent to adding 30 million American homes to the grid in just five years. For context, global data centers used just 460 TWh in 2024. This explosion isn’t just changing how we generate power; it’s fundamentally reshaping America’s energy future and creating what analysts are calling the most significant investment opportunity in the power sector since rural electrification.
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The Perfect Storm: When Moore’s Law Meets Megawatts
The collision between AI’s insatiable appetite for computing power and the physical limits of America’s aging electrical infrastructure has created an existential crisis for the tech industry—and a golden opportunity for nuclear energy.
Nvidia’s upcoming server racks already consume 140 kilowatts each, double the power of previous generations. Future designs like the Vera Rubin are projected to require 360 kilowatts per rack by 2027—enough to power 240 homes. Multiply that across thousands of data centers, and the scale becomes staggering: the Electric Power Research Institute forecasts that data centers could account for 12% of total U.S. electricity production by 2028.
“We really don’t have the electrical infrastructure to meet even the modest midpoint targets,” says industry analyst Brian Gramlich. Natural gas turbines are sold out through the decade’s end. Wind and solar, while fastest to deploy, can’t provide the 24/7 baseload power that AI operations demand. Data center downtime costs exceed $8 million per day—intermittent power simply isn’t an option.
Enter nuclear energy, the only carbon-free technology capable of delivering round-the-clock electricity at industrial scale.
Big Tech’s Nuclear Awakening
In September 2024, Microsoft made history with a 20-year agreement to restart Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 reactor—the first time in U.S. history that a shuttered nuclear plant would be revived specifically to power data centers. The deal wasn’t just symbolic; it represented a fundamental shift in how technology companies view their energy future.
The floodgates opened. Google announced it would purchase power from multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) being developed by Kairos Power, with the first reactors expected online by 2030. Amazon committed $500 million toward X-energy’s SMR program in Washington State, targeting the “early 2030s” for deployment. Meta and others are actively exploring similar partnerships.
These aren’t pilot projects or PR stunts. Combined, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta more than doubled their electricity consumption between 2017 and 2021, reaching 72 terawatt-hours. By 2026, that figure could exceed 1,000 TWh—more than a third of all electricity generated by the world’s nuclear plants in 2024.
“Nuclear energy is obviously the best solution to both of these problems,” says Bret Kugelmass, CEO of microreactor vendor Last Energy. “The question is how to deliver it most effectively.”
Washington’s Nuclear Moonshot
The Trump administration has turbocharged this momentum with the most aggressive nuclear energy initiative in American history. In early 2025, President Trump signed four executive orders setting a goal to quadruple U.S. nuclear output by 2050—from roughly 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts.
The Department of Energy launched an unprecedented program to streamline regulatory approval and unlock private funding for advanced reactors, with an audacious target: at least three new reactors achieving criticality by July 4, 2026. Initial applications were due July 21, 2025.
This represents a complete reversal of decades of nuclear stagnation. The U.S. hasn’t seen significant new nuclear construction since the 1970s. Now, the DOE reports that more than 60 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity could be built at existing nuclear power plant sites alone—enough to power 45 million homes.
The policy shift extends beyond federal action. States from Virginia to California are offering expedited permitting and financial incentives to attract both data centers and the nuclear facilities to power them. Virginia alone hosts over 300 data centers contributing $9.1 billion annually to its economy.
The Small Modular Revolution
At the heart of this nuclear renaissance lies a technological breakthrough: small modular reactors. Unlike traditional nuclear plants that can cost $10-30 billion and take a decade to build, SMRs promise factory manufacturing, standardized designs, and deployment in as little as 3-5 years.
These aren’t your grandfather’s nuclear reactors. Advanced SMRs feature passive safety systems, smaller footprints that enable construction adjacent to data centers, and modular designs that can scale from 10 megawatts to over 300 megawatts per unit. Some microreactor designs aim to operate for 10 years without refueling.
The economic case is compelling despite higher upfront costs. While capital expenditures for nuclear run 5-10 times higher than natural gas ($6,400-$12,700 per kilowatt versus $1,290), nuclear’s operational costs are remarkably stable. Uranium fuel prices fluctuate but account for a small percentage of total costs, while nuclear plants can operate for 80+ years. For tech companies planning multi-decade investments in data infrastructure, this long-term predictability is invaluable.
Goldman Sachs projects that 85-90 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity will be needed just to meet data center power demand growth by 2030. The total investment required could exceed $500 billion when including plant construction, uranium supply chain development, and grid infrastructure upgrades.
The Global Race
America isn’t alone in this nuclear-AI convergence. China, already the world’s largest builder of nuclear plants, is moving even more aggressively. Chinese data centers consumed 25% of global data center electricity in 2024, second only to the U.S. Beijing projects power demand from data centers will triple from 200 TWh in 2025 to 600 TWh by 2030.
China’s 2025 AI investment is forecast between $84-98 billion—48% higher than 2024—with $56 billion coming from state sources. The country is simultaneously deploying multiple SMR designs while maintaining its lead in traditional large-reactor construction.
European nations are also pivoting. Switzerland is reconsidering its nuclear phaseout. Nuclear power enjoys bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress. At COP28, nations agreed to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050—a target that seemed fantastical just years ago but now appears increasingly achievable, driven by AI’s voracious energy needs.
“Corporate buyers can help reduce barriers to the commercialization of these technologies,” says a Google spokesperson. “We hope to work with other clean energy buyers to scale these technologies in the coming decades and achieve 24/7 clean power, not just for Google but for everyone.”
The Reality Check
Despite the momentum, significant challenges remain. Regulatory approval processes, even with streamlining, still take years. Supply chains for critical components like transformers and specialized steel are constrained. The nuclear workforce needs dramatic expansion—the industry requires thousands of trained engineers, operators, and technicians who don’t currently exist.
Most critically, there’s a timing mismatch. While tech companies are signing nuclear power purchase agreements today, very few new reactors will come online before 2030. In the interim, data centers will rely heavily on fossil fuels—keeping coal plants operating longer and spurring new natural gas plant construction that could lock in emissions for decades.
“There is a question about whether or not all of the projections, if they’re real,” warned Willie Phillips, former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Some utilities have already scaled back their most aggressive demand forecasts, and there are concerns that AI companies are shopping the same projects to multiple power providers to secure the fastest connection.
Constellation Energy CEO Joe Dominguez put it bluntly: “I just have to tell you, folks, I think the load is being overstated. We need to pump the brakes here.”
The Investment Opportunity
Market skepticism aside, capital is flowing. The utility sector has gained nearly $500 billion in value over the past two years, with consecutive annual gains exceeding 19%—the strongest two-year performance since 2003-2004. Uranium prices have surged. Nuclear engineering programs at universities are seeing record enrollment.
Investors are betting on multiple layers of opportunity:
Infrastructure plays: Companies manufacturing SMR components, specialized construction firms, and uranium mining operations are seeing unprecedented demand.
Power utilities: Established nuclear operators like Constellation Energy, Exelon, and Southern Company are enjoying valuation premiums as tech companies compete for their capacity.
Technology enablers: Firms developing advanced reactor designs, next-generation fuel systems, and nuclear control software are attracting venture capital at rates previously reserved for software startups.
Grid modernization: The transmission infrastructure needed to connect new nuclear facilities to data centers represents hundreds of billions in required investment.
“We’re starting to see similar projects that look exactly to have the same footprint being requested in different regions across the country,” says GridUnity CEO Brian Fitzsimons, whose company helps utilities track connection requests. The demand is real—the question is whether supply can keep pace.
An Energy Paradigm Shift
What’s emerging is nothing less than a new social compact around nuclear energy. For decades, nuclear power languished under the combined weight of high costs, regulatory paralysis, public fear following accidents like Three Mile Island and Fukushima, and fierce competition from cheap natural gas and plummeting renewable costs.
AI has changed the equation entirely. The technology sector’s desperate need for clean, reliable, always-on power—combined with climate commitments that rule out sustained fossil fuel expansion—has created political and economic conditions that didn’t exist before.
Tech CEOs are now nuclear advocates. Environmental groups that opposed atomic energy for generations are reconsidering. Policymakers see nuclear as essential to both economic competitiveness and energy security. Capital markets are pricing in a nuclear revival.
“Infrastructure is destiny,” OpenAI noted in a recent policy brief. For AI’s continued advancement, that infrastructure will increasingly be atomic.
The Road Ahead
The International Energy Agency’s recent report, “The Path to a New Era for Nuclear Energy,” suggests we’re at an inflection point. Global nuclear capacity additions could reach 70-80 gigawatts by 2035—more than double current projections—driven primarily by data center demand.
But success is far from guaranteed. The nuclear industry must deliver projects on time and on budget, something it has historically struggled to achieve. Regulatory frameworks need continued evolution to enable faster deployment without compromising safety. Supply chains must scale dramatically. Public acceptance, while improving, remains fragile.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. If America succeeds in this nuclear-AI convergence, it could cement technological leadership for decades while achieving substantive decarbonization. If execution falters, the alternative is likely a fossil-fueled AI boom that undermines climate goals and leaves the U.S. vulnerable to competitors who moved faster.
For investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, the message is clear: the nuclear renaissance isn’t coming—it’s already here, powered by training runs, inference calculations, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. The question isn’t whether nuclear and AI will reshape the energy landscape, but how quickly that transformation will unfold and who will capture its enormous value.
In the race to power humanity’s digital future, America’s atomic age is just beginning.
Author Note: This analysis is based on publicly available data from the International Energy Agency, Goldman Sachs Research, the U.S. Department of Energy, and leading industry analysts as of January 2026. Energy demand projections involve significant uncertainty, and actual outcomes may vary substantially from forecasts cited herein.