Nuclear's moment is here

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s members-only Weekend Brief newsletter. Quartz members get access to exclusive newsletters and more. Sign up here.

Every source of new electricity generation is constrained right now. Solar panels require silicon, and supply has limits. Wind turbines have lead times measured in years. Gas turbines are backlogged. Grid connection queues were already running years long before AI data centers started driving power demand to levels that have caught utilities flat-footed.

The result is something like an all-hands-on-deck moment for electricity. That means nuclear, long dismissed as too expensive and too slow, is back in the mix.

Microsoft $MSFT -0.22% signed a deal to restart Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, the site of America’s worst commercial nuclear accident in 1979. Meta $META +1.24% struck agreements with TerraPower, a Bill Gates-backed reactor developer, and Oklo, a small modular reactor startup backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, plus a 20-year purchase deal for power from existing plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Google $GOOGL +3.42% is backing the reopening of a shuttered Iowa plant through a deal with NextEra $NEE -0.03% Energy.

The administration is also onboard. President Donald Trump signed executive orders last May directing the government to have 10 new large reactors under construction by 2030, streamline licensing, and rebuild the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain. His stated goal is to triple U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050, from roughly 100 gigawatts to 300.

In Europe, surging energy prices linked to the Iran war have added pressure. E.U. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said this week that winding down nuclear was a “strategic mistake.” France, which still sourced much of its enriched uranium from Russia last year, is pushing to standardize reactor designs across the continent.

The hype problem

Nuclear’s association with AI has done something strange to its stock prices. Companies that haven’t built a reactor, licensed a reactor, or signed a contract to sell power from a reactor are being valued as if they already have.

Oklo, which has no reactor license and no binding power contracts, reached a market cap of roughly $26 billion. NuScale Power, a small modular reactor company not expected to turn a profit until 2030, saw its shares rise more than 150% in a year. Across the sector, companies generating zero revenue have collectively been valued at over $45 billion.

After going through years of regulatory process, TerraPower received a construction permit for its first sodium-cooled reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming and it still needs an operating license. The earliest it could be finished is 2030, and that assumes no delays for a first-of-its-kind design.

The most recent large conventional reactors built in the U.S., two plants in Georgia, finished seven years late and cost roughly $35 billion for the pair, more than double the original budget. Westinghouse, the nuclear reactor manufacturer that built them went through bankruptcy building them.

The federal program now betting $80 billion on a new round of Westinghouse reactors is counting on cost reductions from building the same design repeatedly. That has worked in other countries. It has not yet worked here.

Nuclear also has its own supply constraints that the valuations don’t reflect. The U.S. has let its uranium enrichment and fuel fabrication capacity atrophy for decades and remains dependent on foreign sources, including Russia, for much of its fuel. Building out that infrastructure takes years, and many of the advanced reactor designs require specialized fuel that isn’t produced at commercial scale in the U.S. yet.

The safety question

While the industry expands, the federal agency that oversees it is contracting. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which licenses and inspects the country’s nuclear plants, is proposing to cut its total inspection hours by 40%, with emergency preparedness inspections taking the steepest hit at 56%.

Executive orders have also placed the previously independent agency under White House budget oversight, giving politicians influence over decisions that previously rested with technical experts.

The workforce picture is similarly strained. The skilled construction workers trained on the last major U.S. reactor builds have largely moved on to other sectors, and nuclear employers were already reporting serious hiring difficulties before the current expansion push, with 85% of nuclear construction employers saying in a 2024 survey that finding workers was either very or somewhat difficult.

America’s nuclear plants have operated for an average of 42 years without a major accident. That record was built before surging demand, an aging fleet, and a weakened regulator were all problems at once.

The lessons from the Fukushima disaster aren’t only about what happens when reactors fail. It’s about what happens when regulators stop functioning independently. Japanese courts later found that years of collusion between government overseers and the utility operating the plant left safety problems unaddressed until an earthquake and tsunami exposed them.

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.

Sign me up

10 Stocks in the Defense Spending BoomSee Which 10 Defense Stocks Show Strong Growth Signals.Seeking Alpha |

SponsoredSponsored

Read More

Undo

10 High-Yield Dividend Stocks for MarchDiscover 10 High-Yield Dividend Stocks for March 2026.Seeking Alpha |

SponsoredSponsored

Read More

Undo

Looking for Senior Dating?Try To Find Senior Dating OnlineUkrainiancharm |

SponsoredSponsored

Click Here

Undo

AI is changing the way you learn a languageDiscover how personalized, real conversations transform language learning experiencesTalkpal - AI Language Learning |

SponsoredSponsored

Sign Up

Undo

Meet curvy women online tonight.Try To Find Senior Dating OnlineGoldenAgeSouls |

SponsoredSponsored

Click Here

Undo

One Patch a Day – and Your Belly Fat Starts To Burn Away Naturally!Purisaki |

SponsoredSponsored

Undo

Become Fluent in Any LanguageBoost Language Skills Fast with Talkpal - Try AI for Free! 57+ Languages! Learn Faster with AI!Talkpal - AI Language Learning |

SponsoredSponsored

Sign Up

Undo

Play War Thunder now for freeFight in over 2000 unique and authentic Vehicles. Fight on Land, on Water and in the Air. Join the most comprehensive vehicular combat game. Over 2000 tanks, ships and aircraft.War Thunder |

SponsoredSponsored

Play Now

Undo

50代「もっと早く知りたかった…」6億円売れた履いて歩くだけの美姿勢の秘訣いつもの靴を変えて歩くだけ！体幹が目覚め健康的なカラダづくりをサポート。運動が苦手でもラクラク体幹ダイエット！amepla |

SponsoredSponsored

詳細

Undo

1 Simple Method To Flatten A “Menopause Belly” (Do This)Purisaki |

SponsoredSponsored

Undo

「30代からでも声優になれる」顔出し不要の在宅声優とは？スクリプトルコンサルティング |

SponsoredSponsored

Undo

Remember Him Wait Till You See Him NowDaily Sport X |

SponsoredSponsored

Undo

The bra everyone’s talking about — and it’s selling out fast !Review Beauty |

SponsoredSponsored

Undo

The awful truth of donating a dead body to “science”Quartz

Undo

The rise of the 4-letter baby nameQuartz

Undo

不動産売却で損する人のNG行動NTTデータG会社運営、住所入力するだけで実家の価値が判明！不動産会社が教えない、家を売る時にNGな行動とはHOME4U不動産売却 |

SponsoredSponsored

詳細

Undo

Get started today!Use ForecastEx contracts to trade your view on economic and climate indicators at IBKR!Interactive Brokers |

SponsoredSponsored

Learn More

Undo

あなたのマンション、今いくらで売れる？不動産査定会社のプロに頼んで買ったときよりも高く売ろう！LIFULL HOME’S |

SponsoredSponsored

詳細

Undo

The Row究極の日常着を提案する〈The Row〉の2026年スプリングコレクション。春らしいリネンカシミヤやハリのあるポプリンなど、極めて上質な素材使いはもちろんのこと、計算されたミニマルかつ洗練されたシルエットに、メゾンが掲げるエレガンスを感じる。BRUTUS |

SponsoredSponsored

続きを読む

Undo

Amazon新生活プレミアムブランドセールAmazon新生活セールでプレミアムブランドの家具、家電がお買い得に。Amazon.co.jp |

SponsoredSponsored

Undo

MOST POPULAR

The 7 best compact SUVs right nowQuartz

Undo

MOST POPULAR

What are the best cheap cars to buy right now?Quartz

Undo

家を売る前に要注意「やってはいけない不動産売却のNG行動」NTTデータG会社運営、住所入力するだけで実家の価値が判明！不動産会社が教えない、家を売る時にNGな行動とはHOME4U不動産売却 |

SponsoredSponsored

詳細

Undo

環境が変わる時期こそ要注意！ “春の疲労感”にも早めケアを 「キリン オルニチンPRO 疲労感＆気持ちケア＋睡眠の質」春のスタート期が到来！ 新しい環境に対応するべく奮闘中の人はストレスを抱えがち。疲労感を感じたら、早めのケアが大切です。 ※1 ストレス条件下の一時的な翌朝の疲労感キリン |

SponsoredSponsored

続きを読む

Undo

Join new Free to Play WWII MMO War ThunderFight in over 2000 unique and authentic Vehicles. Fight on Land, on Water and in the Air. Join the most comprehensive vehicular combat game. Over 2000 tanks, ships and aircraft.War Thunder |

SponsoredSponsored

Play Now

Undo