Ajay Banga, the World Bank president, announced that it would lift its decades-long ban on financing nuclear energy and “begin to re-enter the nuclear energy space” in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency. This policy shift is aimed at accelerating development of the low-emissions nuclear technology to meet surging electricity demand in the developing world.
Join us for a discussion about nuclear!
Los Angeles is still reeling from a series of horrific fires that devasted multiple communities, particularly Palisades and Eaton in early 2025. Recent reports found that these fires caused between $28 and $54 billion in property damange, along with what may be $9 billion in related economic losses in LA County alone. The fires have caused a loss of almost 50,000 job-years in the region, reducing area wages, business income, and federal, state and local tax revenue.
Lack of rain, hotter and drier conditions and high winds helped fuel the fires while combating the fires was hindered by the excess heat and widespread shortage of divertable water resources. These are conditions that have been exascerbated by global warming, which is caused by humanity's growing carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. Gigatonnes of these heat-trapping waste CO2 emissions have amassed within the atmosphere causing the planet to get warmer. Scientists now believe that we've exceeded 1.5°Celsius average increase or 2.7°Fahrenheit and the heating is continuing to rise at an accelerating rate.
While Los Angeles is working to recover, rebuild and repair, the question of how to begin to reverse the damage we're continuing to do to the climate remains. We know with total certainty that we must stop burning fossil fuels. But demand for energy is not just growing around the world, demand is surging—particularly due to AI usage. This means not only do we need to focus on building only new clean energy plants but we also need to replace the 80% of global energy still using fossil fuels with equivalent sources of clean power as well.
We've been building wind and solar as fast as possible but these have never been able to keep up with even the historically lower level of energy growth. Additionally, the enormous costs of "firming" all that dilute and intermittent power (i.e. adding batteries, duplicative generation, and other fossil back up for when the sun and wind aren't cooperating) have increased California ratepayer costs. Meanwhile, we are still reliant on burning fossil fuels for some 60% of our power here in California and new fossil plants continue to get built that lock in continued emissions for decades more, which is extraordinarily bad for our future.
We clearly need better solutions. From our perspective, the only good news on the climate horizon is that energy experts, tech hyperscalers, government officials, industrial companies and investors are increasingly recognizing the importance of nuclear power for addressing our energy and climate needs. Nuclear (fission) power produces massive amounts of energy with zero emissions and runs reliably 24/7 (except for refuelings). It also cleans the air (as it emits zero toxins, unlike coal and gas), it provides good-paying jobs and has one of the smallest possible ecologic footprints. Best of all, there's a race on to develop next-generation nuclear power plants that better meet our 21st century energy needs. (Nuclear fusion may play a role in the future but commercialization of that technology is still much further off.)
Nuclear power—and especially newer, advanced designs—has seen bipartisan support in the Congress since the Obama Administration. Both Biden and Trump have increased funding for development of next-gen nuclear and signed multiples bills to accelerate new deployments for energy security, for climate change and for national security goals. Public support for nuclear power is currently at its highest level in decades. Yet, support by men exceeds that of women overall. Among women, surprisingly, those most concerned about climate change, primarily progressive Democrats, report the least support for nuclear power. This appears to be correlated with a high degree of of fear about nuclear safety even though nuclear has been found to be among the safest and cleanest forms of energy ever developed. That does not appear to be common knowledge yet.
Valerie Gardner, Nucleation Capital's managing partner, is working to help set the record straight. She is co-hosting a luncheon gathering for a small group of women in Los Angeles in July to discuss nuclear power and share what she has learned over the past 15 years of research and investigation, to dispell myths that still infuse women's thinking about nuclear energy.
Official Event Description
Nuclear for Climate
Join a small group of women gathering at an LA restaurant to enjoy a hosted lunch and discussion exploring the proposition that nuclear power could be exactly what we need to meet the surging demand for energy and solve climate climate safely, sustainably and cost-effectively.
As data centers, cloud computing, vehicle electrification, crypto mining, manufacturing and more, create an unprecedented spike in demand, energy buyers and the broader utility sector in general are facing a pivotal moment. Will we meet this demand with more cheap but often volatile fossil fuel power generation and continue to make our climate crisis worse? Or will we push forward and accelerate the commercialization revolutionary advanced nuclear technologies that are clean, dense, low-impact, reliable and climate resilient—everything we need—if initially more expensive?
While all new technologies are more expensive before quantity production commences, it is widely believed that nuclear energy doesn't scale. But that premise is false, especially in the context of deployments of Gen IV nuclear, which will be built with smaller modular components manufactured in production lines and shipped to locations for assembly. It these designs are successful, they could rapidly scale to meet this surging energy demand cleanly while bringing down costs, so as to compete on every level with fossil fuels, including price. They will also be far better, since they don't contribute to climate change, and will thus help save our children's future.
Event Details:
Date: July 9th, 2025
Time: 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location in LA: To be provided upon registration
Join us to explore ideas that will define the next generation of energy systems. Click here to request an invitation!
Looking forward to seeing everyone in L.A.!
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Advanced Nuclear Customers, Artificial Intelligence, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Electrification, Energy abundance, Energy transition, EVENTS, Fission, Fusion, Future of Energy, Government support, Investor activity, Macro Energy Systems, NEWS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nucleation communications, Reduced ecosystem impacts, Regulatory reform, Solving climate, Solving nuclear waste, US competitiveness, US technological leadership, Women in Nuclear, Zero emission energy
The blackout that left millions of people across the Iberian peninsula without power, including at the Madrid Open, ignited debate over renewables and fuelled rising interest in nuclear power. More Europeans are questioning whether renewable energy can be relied on to provide a stable source of clean energy. It also fuelled a renewed interest in the global nuclear power renaissance already under way.
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Climate policy, Energy transition, Fission, Future of Energy, Government support, History-making, LINKS, Nuclear financing, Nuclear-inclusive energy policy, Politicians supporting nuclear, Solving climate, US technological leadership, Zero emission energy
Climate tipping effects may be kicking in
For those tracking the state of the climate, the report published by the BBC showing that tropical forests were being destroyed at the fastest recorded rate over the last year, was frightening, with the prospect of total forest dieback and "savannisation" of these areas is a growing risk.
Compounding the loss of old-growth tropical forests in 2024 (estimated to have covered an area as large as Ireland) and the release of their carbon stores, is the loss of the moisture and climate systems maintained by those forest ecosystems, which previously provided localized cooling effects, produced cloud cover and contributed to the atmospheric moisture necessary for rain. These had also helped to brighten the earth, thereby reflecting more of the sunlight that otherwise would cause heating. This moisture and water cycle activity gets destroyed along with the trees, plants and animal life. This climatic loss to broad areas may be having more of a negative feedback effective on the planet's overall warming than has previously been recognized.
Global Surface Temperature Change (published 2/3/25)
This news add yet more data to the alarming report published in February by Dr. James Hansen, Dr. Pushker Kharecha and a team of sixteen other climate scientists plainly titled "Global Warming Has Accelerated: Are the United Nations and the Public Well-Informed? In it, Dr. Hansen's team explains that global temperatures have leaped up more than a half degree (0.7°F or 0.4°C) over the last 2 years, with a total average temperature rise of +1.6°C relative to the temperature at the beginning of last century (the 1880-1920 average). This reflects a temperature rise over the +1.5°C (or 2.7°F) level that we set as our goal for maximum increase. As of the last year, we've already exceeded that level.
These increases have, according to Hansen, baffled Earth scientists, as the increase's magnitude was literally off the charts. There were multiple explanations presented as to what could have caused such a big increase. Declining aerosol pollution was seen as a key contributor, by reducing nuclei that aided cloud formation and thus reflection of sunlight, thereby effectively darkening earth and allowing more heat to be absorbed. These are very troubling and portentious changes that may, in fact, show that feedback effects are already accelerating the heating impacts of our CO2 emissions, such that they no longer follow a direct relationship.
Dr. Hansen's report received considerable criticism both because it departed scientifically from the mainstream's more conservative consensus of a lower rate of warming and climate "sensitivity," as determined by the IPCC, and because it called for "a complement to the IPCC approach" to "avoid handing young people a dire situation that is out of their control." In a response to some of that criticism, Drs. Hansen and Karecha decried the ad hoc opinions, ad hominem attacks and sense that the media has gravitated towards reporting the opinions of just a small handful of scientists, rather than covering the total community and range of analyses, including their own.
Dr. Anatassia Makarieva, an atmospheric physicist, responded to this debate with a substack post titled "On the scientific essense of Dr. James Hansen's recent appeal." In it she agreed with Drs. Hansen and Karecha that many scientists were understating the degree of climate forcing but also shared her sense that many of the climate models in use, including Dr. Hansen's, erroneously ignored the major role of the biosphere in the climate destabilization that we are now experiencing. Which may, she argued, partially explain why none of the models predicted the heat anomaly of the 2023 - 2024 time period. Dr. Makarieva writes:
Why is this [i.e. accurate climate models] so important? Unless external causes of this recent temperature anomaly are identified, we may be dealing with a self-reinforcing process — for example, of reduced cloud cover causing more warming, this warming causing even less clouds and so forth until something truly ugly happens to our planet. But, if so, such a process could be started by many factors and does not necessarily need CO2 to kick off. For example, deforestation-induced reduction of evapotranspiration in the Amazon is associated with extreme heat events. This alone could trigger the warming that could then self-amplify via cloud (or some other) feedbacks.
Whether or not we have permanent self-reinforcing amplification happening with the climate now is being debated, partially thanks to new voices like Dr. Makarieva's, entering the field. What is clear, however, is that the fewer clouds, aerosols, snow cover, sea ice and also more invisible sources of water vapor (such produced by tropical forests and other natural ecosystems) the darker the earth is and the more sunlight gets through and heats the ground, the oceans and the air. This heating further impacts existing vegetation, ice sheets, permafrost and bodies of water negatively, which then also contribute more CO2, more fires, and further darkening of earth's surface. Earth's climate has been in a state of equilibrium for eons. Given what is happening with the climate now, it appears that it is leaving that state of equilibrium.
According to some reports, the Earth has "dimmed" by 0.5% in the past 25 years. We've known this and scientists have been able to track decreases in sea ice at the poles, a major factor in global warming. We're now seeing the climate effects of reductions in aerosols (due to the shipping industry trying to clean up their act and emit less aerosols), and we're seeing reduced cloud cover. The bottom line is that even just looking at cloud feedbacks, the more the climate warms, the fewer the clouds. The fewer the clouds, the more the planet warms. This feedback loop is enough to take us into very dangerous territory. Which is yet another reason why we want to prevent the loss of tropical forests, not just because of the CO2 impacts but because of the cloud and water vapor impacts. This feedback loop could explain why the rate of heating of the planet has increased beyond what was expected, even by scientists like Zeke Hausfather and James Hansen.
Dr. Hansen continues to urge immediate action and has proposed that "a multitude of actions are required within less than a decade to reduce and even reverse Earth’s energy imbalance for the sake of minimizing the enormous ongoing geoengineering of the planet; specifically, we will need to cool the planet to avoid consequences for young people that all people would find unconscionable."
References:
BBC, Tropical forests destroyed at fastest recorded rate last year, by Mark Poynting and Esme Stallard, May 20, 2025.
Columbia University, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, "Global Warming Has Accelerated: Are the United Nations and the Public Well-Informed?, published in Taylor & Francis, February 3, 2025 by James E. Hansen, Pushker Kharecha, Makiko Sato, George Tselioudis, Joseph Kelly, Susanne E. Bauer, Reto Ruedy, Eunbi Jeong, Qinjian Jin, Eric Rignot, Isabella Velicogna, Mark R. Schoeberl, Karina von Schuckmann, Joshua Amponsem, Junji Cao, Anton Keskinen, Jing Li, and Anni Pokela
Biotic Regulation and Biotic Pump Substack, "On the scientific essense of Dr. James Hansen's recent appeal." by Dr. Anatassia Makarieva, an atmospheric physicist, May 19, 2025.
Published by Valerie Gardner in Advanced Nuclear, Asset manager support, Brilliant thinkers, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Climate innovation fund, Climate mayhem, Construction costs, Energy abundance, Environmental support for nuclear, Extreme weather, Future of Energy, International support for nuclear, Investor activity, Land Use by Energy, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear maritime propulsion, Nuclear R&D, Philanthropic support for nuclear, Politicians supporting nuclear, Pro-nuclear campaign, Solving climate, Solving nuclear waste, US competitiveness, Venture capital support for nuclear, Zero emission energy
The Trump administration issued four executive orders today aimed at boosting domestic nuclear deployment ahead of significant growth in projected energy demand in the coming decades. During a live signing in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump called nuclear “a hot industry,” and “a brilliant industry. . . . It’s become very safe and environmental.” These orders were designed to enhance America's energy security and support the growing demand for reliable power sources, particularly in AI and defense sectors.
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Advanced Nuclear Customers, Energy abundance, Energy transition, Fission, Future of Energy, Government support, History-making, LINKS, National Defense, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear R&D, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Politicians supporting nuclear, Regulatory reform, Solving climate, US competitiveness, US technological leadership
Nucleation announces its investment in Zeno Power’s $50 Million Series B with Fund I
Nucleation is delighted to announce our participation in Zeno Power’s $50 million Series B funding round, led by Hanaco Ventures with participation from Seraphim, Balerion Space Ventures, JAWS, Vanderbilt University, RiverPark Ventures, Stage 1 Ventures, 7i Capital, Beyond Earth Ventures, and other investors.
In an article released today, Axios has first reported on Zeno Power's close of this funding together with news of the company's appointment of Admiral John Richardson, USN (Ret.), former Chief of Naval Operations and Director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, to its Board of Directors. This brings the total raised by Zeno to over $70 million, following the company's Series A, which was led by Tribe Capital.
Zeno Power is working to power strategic frontiers, which include the deep ocean, the Artic and space, regions where there are prospects for commerce, strategic influence and international competition for resources. The company builds nuclear batteries, essentially radioisotope power systems, which convert the heat from nuclear "waste" materials like Strontium-90 (Sr-90) into long-duration energy sources. The demand for such power systems—by groups seeking to operate on the moon, Mars, in the Artic and deep ocean—prove the high value of many of the highly radioactive materials found in nuclear waste. Over the last three years, Zeno has secured over $60M in contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA, built and demonstrated their first nuclear prototype at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and secured the nuclear fuel and facilities to build their first 10+ nuclear batteries.
The company's Series B funding is expected to unlock the team's plans to:
- Demonstrate full-scale nuclear batteries in 2026 to enable maritime and space deliveries in 2027
- Scale their manufacturing capabilities to meet growing demand from government and commercial customers
- Expand into seabed telecommunications, deep-sea mining for critical minerals, and commercial space markets
- Grow our team from 65 to 100+ team members across Seattle and Washington D.C.
To learn more about Zeno and their business of unlocking the value of nuclear waste, read Zeno Power CEO Tyler Bernstein's blog post, Powering the Frontier: Our $50M Series B Round, with more information about the raise and Zeno's plans for the coming years.
Also see: GeekWire, Zeno Power raises $50M in funding to fuel development of next-gen nuclear batteries, by Alan Boyle, May 14, 2025.
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Advanced Nuclear Customers, Energy abundance, Future of Energy, Government support, Investor activity, NEWS, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear R&D, Nuclear waste, Nucleation communications, Portfolio Venture, RTGs, Solving nuclear waste, US competitiveness, US technological leadership, Venture capital support for nuclear, Zero emission energy
GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) announced today approval from the Province of Ontario and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to proceed with deployment of the first small modular reactor (SMR) in the Western world at the Darlington nuclear site in Ontario, Canada. This milestone marks a significant step forward in advancing nuclear innovation and reinforces GVH’s leadership position in scaling SMRs commercially.
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Advanced Nuclear Customers, Carbon emissions, Energy transition, Fission, Future of Energy, History-making, INTERNATIONAL NEWS, International support for nuclear, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation, Private companies, Public companies, Solving climate
An important conversation hosted by Doon Insights
Doon Insights, an investment-focused group organized by Howard Chao, convened dozens of subject-matter experts as speakers (see the list below) across many disciplines in Santa Cruz, California to address trends and issues impacting demand for and supply of energy in the coming years and decades. Energy, which is what makes today's technologically-dependent society possible, is a very large and important topic and was a lot to cover. But in an ambitious, rapid-paced one-day conference titled "POWER SURGE: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand," dozens of people laid out the fundamentals and discussed the key questions around both what is driving demand and how will we meet that demand. Questions tackled included:
Demand Side
- Why projections for US power needs now greatly exceed what would have been predicted only a couple of year ago
- Why the exceptional needs of AI Data Centers and the electrification of diverse parts of the economy are driving energy demand
- What are the challenges of building, financing and operating new data centers?
- How much more power will these new facilities require? Where will they be located and what is the attitude of utilities, state and federal government towards supporting them?
- How will the rapidly changing AI competitive landscape affect these power projections? Does the advent of very cheap, highly efficient, smaller SLMs, open source models and Chinese competitors mean that investors have overestimated the need for huge data centers?
- How will the electrification of vehicles, buildings, industry and transactions (blockchain and cryptocurrencies) further accelerate and add significant incremental power demand?
- What are the primary challenges to meeting these power demands of these expanding use cases in the coming years and what will be the main challenges to implementation, including the need to expand the transmission capabilities of the grid?
- Will the new administration's renewed emphasis on fossil fuels result in a slowdown in electrification?
- What will be the impact of the tariffs on the buildout of all these projects?
- How will the new administration's energy policies impact all of these areas? Will we be able to unleash power generation sufficient to sustain the foreseeable economic growth while also continuing to reduce carbon emissions?
Supply Side
- What are the near and longer-term challenges and solutions to the surge in power demand?
- Will growing renewables and batteries be sufficient?
- Will fossil fuels experience a resurgence, with all that drilling?
- Will the sexiest and biggest solutions—nuclear fission and fusion—be coming on stream faster than most people believe?
- What are the short, medium and long-term prospects for these new technologies?
- Will the "privatization" of nuclear innovation and the prevalence of an industry being led by fast-moving private companies, pleasantly surprise us with their speed to market?
- What will be the near-term and longer-term mix of energy solutions?
- How will a patchwork of revamped legacy technologies, including fuel cells, wind, solar, distributed generation, energy storage, energy time-of-use shifting and other behind-the-meter solutions help in the short-term?
- How are advancements in small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), which offer enhanced safety features, reduced construction times, and the flexibility to be deployed in diverse locations, going to contribute?
- Given that major technology companies like Google and Amazon are investing in SMRs to power their expansive data centers, how will this accelerate commercialization?
- Fusion energy—which is experiencing a wave of breakthroughs, with multiple companies and research initiatives racing to develop and commercialize multiple technologies, such as high-temperature superconductors, improved plasma confinement techniques, and novel neutron flux applications—is beginning to generate revenues but has yet to complete a power-generating reactor design. Will the new administration help accelerate progress towards practical fusion power with pilot plants within the decade or is this game-changing technology still decades away?
The Nuclear Option
Valerie Gardner, Nucleation's managing partner, moderated the day's fission panel, called "The Nuclear Option: Generation IV and Small Modular Reactors," which looked at the role of fission innovation and the coming wave of small, modular reactors (SMRs), that were poised to bring nuclear power into the 21st century. She and her panelists, Leah Crider from Westinghouse (seated on the left), representing the eVinci design, and Clayton Scott from NuScale Power (in the center), which has the first NRC-certified advanced fission design, discussed how and why next-generation nuclear will be the ideal clean energy solution that few think is possible.
While the Fission panel had a full 45 minutes (and probably went over-time) to cover a lot of ground, including reviewing nuclear's status as a major source of today's clean energy, the fact that nuclear is turning into a "technology" product that can be manufactured in factories and shipped to locations, and how a growing assortment of energy buyers like Google, Amazon and Dow Chemical see advanced nuclear as solving their energy needs better than other solutions, because the subject matter was so expansive, Valerie and her panel were able to cover many but definitely not all of the important points. Nevertheless, the fact that this conference's supply-side conversation included nuclear fission at all was a huge victory. This inclusion reflects the fact that nuclear energy is no longer seen as the taboo topic it was long deemed to be, at least up until the last couple of years. For too long, nuclear fission was excluded and no one considered it a vital part of the clean energy solution set. But times have changed and especially among investors looking to understand key long-term trends and be able to invest into them at an early stage.
According to Howard Chao, each panel of the conference, by design, was too short, leaving a lot of unfinished conversations. Nucleation Capital was honored to have been included in this discussion and we look forward to continuing to see interest in advanced nuclear broaden.
POWER SURGE: List of Speakers
Published by Valerie Gardner in Advanced Nuclear, Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Electrification, Energy abundance, Energy transition, EVENTS, Fission, Fusion, Future of Energy, Government support, Investor activity, Macro Energy Systems, NEWS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nucleation communications, Reduced ecosystem impacts, Regulatory reform, Solving climate, Solving nuclear waste, US competitiveness, US technological leadership, Women in Nuclear
Announcing a Doon Insights Workshop
Doon Insights, hosted by Howard Chao, is convening dozens of experts to address trends and discuss issues impacting demand for and supply of energy in the coming years and decades. This one-day conference is being held on April 30th, 2025 in Santa Cruz, at the Boardwalk's Cocoanut Grove Resort. This is Doon Insights first energy-focused workshop, so the event will bring investors up to speed on the topic of energy and how we will meet that demand. It is not too late to register to attend. The conference is titled "POWER SURGE: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand."
Ray Rothrock, renowned venture capitalist and Nucleation Capital advisor, will give a keynote talk about the solutions to the demand surge in conversation with Howard Chao. Valerie Gardner, Nucleation Capital's managing partner, is moderating an afternoon panel on Long Term Supply Side Solutions from Nuclear Fission: Specifically Gen IV and Small Modular Reactors. Following that, Matt Trevithick of Leitmotif Ventures, will moderate a panel on Fusion. For the complete event overview and agenda, see thePOWER SURGE website.
Official Event Description
Doon Insights is pleased to announce our Power Surge Workshop: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand!
Our Power Surge Workshop will convene an exclusive gathering of industry leaders, investors, technologists, and innovators to explore one of the most pressing challenges of our time: meeting the surging demand for energy in a scalable and sustainable way.
As data centers, the electrification of everything, crypto mining, and other emerging energy-intensive applications create an unprecedented spike in demand, the energy sector is facing a pivotal moment. This perfect storm of demand must be addressed with both more conventional power generation, better power management and revolutionary new technologies.
Why Attend?
This Workshop is a must-attend event for energy innovators, investors, technologists, energy, manufacturing, mobility and other energy industry executives. Engage in in-depth discussions, network with industry leaders, and discover actionable insights into our energy future. And enjoy the beach and mountains of Santa Cruz!
Event Details:
Date:April 30, 2025 - 8 am
Location:The Boardwalk's Classic Cocoanut Grove Ballroom, 400 Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA (Workshop); Bonny Doon, CA (Reception and Dinner)
Join us to explore the technologies, strategies, and collaborations that will define the next generation of energy systems. Secure your spot today!
Very much looking forward to seeing everyone in Santa Cruz!
Published by Valerie Gardner in Advanced Nuclear, Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Electrification, Energy abundance, Energy transition, EVENTS, Fission, Fusion, Future of Energy, Government support, Investor activity, Macro Energy Systems, NEWS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nucleation communications, Reduced ecosystem impacts, Regulatory reform, Solving climate, Solving nuclear waste, US competitiveness, US technological leadership, Women in Nuclear
Energy is extremely big business and growing. But dominating in the fossil fuel industry is so very "last century." As such, it is encouraging to see the state of Texas, which prides itself on being the "energy capital of the world," setting itself up to become the "epicenter" for deployment of advanced nuclear. The state has taken some impressive steps to achieve this goal, but the question is why? What is behind this push? And where does this leave other states vying to compete for this business? This article provides pointers to the state of state competition to lead in nuclear innovation in the U.S.
Lessons learned the hard way
Serious interest in nuclear energy for Texas seems to have been sparked in 2022, in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri that resulted in extended power outages that caused many cold-related fatalities. Soon after, an industry group got together to form the Texas Nuclear Alliance dedicated to the advancement of nuclear technology in Texas and a mission to make Texas the "Nuclear Capital of the World." TNA's underlying premise was that, to meet the need for low-carbon and reliable energy, neither Texas nor the world could afford to turn its back on "clean, safe, reliable and secure" nuclear energy.
By late 2023, Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, directed the Texas Public Utility Commission to establish a working group to study advanced nuclear. A year later, in November 2024, the Governor and the PUCT announced the release of the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group’s final report on Texas’ plan to build a world-leading advanced nuclear power industry. The report's multiple goals sought to enhance electric reliability and energy security, promote economic development, and unleash new opportunities for the growing Texas workforce. In commenting on the PUC's report, Governor Abbott said:
“Texas is the energy capital of the world, and we are ready to be No. 1 in advanced nuclear power. By utilizing advanced nuclear energy, Texas will enhance the reliability of the state grid and provide affordable, dispatchable power to Texans across the state. As we build an advanced nuclear industry in our great state, we will ensure Texas remains a leader in energy and strengthen the Texas grid to meet the demands of our growing state.”
If you click on the report image on the right, it takes you directly to the report package, which is a thing of beauty. The Executive Summary finds five key benefits to making Texas the epicenter of advanced nuclear in the U.S.: 1) Enhance energy security; 2) Improve grid reliability; 3) Expand economic development opportunities; 4) Capture first-in-nation advantages that bring jobs, revenue and industrial growth; and 5) Capture international trade opportunities as the world works to triple the amount of nuclear available by 2050.
How will Texas take this lead? By doing what Texas does best: cutting "red tape" and establishing major "incentives" to "attract investments," accelerate advanced nuclear deployments and overcome regulatory hurdles. It's a very good plan . . . and far exceeds efforts by any other state to attract advanced nuclear development to itself.
Best of all, Texas isn't merely posturing. The Texas Nuclear Alliance has partnered with the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS, which boasts eleven universities, eight agencies and an enormous 2100 acre parcel of land called the Rellis Campus devoted to supporting technology innovation) and announced that they have selected four advanced nuclear ventures to build their own advanced reactor at Texas A&M. These companies, called TNA Founding Members, include: Kairos Power, Natura Resources, Terrestrial Energy and Aalo Atomics. These companies responded to an RFP in the summer of 2024 to bring their designs to the Rellis campus and were accepted. While there are unknowns about what this selection means for these companies, solving the siting issue can provide a significant advantage in the highly competitive race to be the first to deploy.
[Click here to see how beautifully Texas A&M promotes the Rellis campus.]
Status of State Competition for Advanced Nuclear
So where do other states sit in the effort to compete for this future economic activity? There are currently 28 U.S. states that generate nuclear power to meet some portion of their electricity. Of these 28, Texas is at the bottom, comparable only to California, with only 7% of capacity provided by nuclear. (In contrast, it gets 51% of its power from gas, 13% from coal and 22% from wind.)
Starting in the late 1970s, as many as 16 states enacted moratoriums on building more nuclear power in the state. Of those states that enacted bans, only nine states (California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont) still have state-wide moratoriums or cannot build more without legislative approval. Four states—Wisconsin (2016), Kentucky (2017), Montana (2021) and West Virginia (2022) recently repealed their bans entirely and enacted legislations to open the door for new reactor construction, largely to meet economic, energy and climate goals. New York, Connecticut and Illinois have unique legislative approaches, where nuclear construction is allowed but under certain conditions.
Illinois, one of the largest nuclear generating states, which produces 53% of its electricity (and 90% of its clean energy) from nuclear power, recently passed HB 2473, lifting the state’s moratorium on building new nuclear reactors—but only for small modular reactors (SMRs) rated for 300 megawatts or less. This measure was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat.
New York has no statewide restriction but still has a narrow ban on new reactor development in the service territory of the Long Island Lighting Company, which covers Nassau, Suffolk and some of Queens counties. Although New York's disgraced former governor, Andrew Cuomo, forced the premature closure of Indian Point which eliminated 80% of the then available clean energy for downstate New York, New York's current Governor, Kathy Hochul appears to be bringing nuclear back. She announced the state's largest and most ambitious initiative to tackle the climate crisis with a new master plan. This includes a commitment of $1 billion by the state and specifically includes NYSERDA's Blueprint for Consideration of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies, which outlines a process for the inclusion of advanced nuclear in the state's Master Plan consideration process. Additionally, New York State will co-lead a multi-state initiative to support nuclear refurbishment and new nuclear development. This seems to place New York State firmly in the race to attract next-generation nuclear developers.
Connecticut has a state-wide ban but passed an exception in 2022 that allows more nuclear construction at the site of the state's one operating nuclear power plant, the Millstone Power Station. This specifically allows Dominion Energy to build advanced nuclear at the Millstone site. Dominion has shown interest in SMRs and recently announced a deal with X-energy to build their advanced design, in partnership with Amazon.
Alone among the most populated, industrial and progressive U.S. states, California remains mired in antiquidated antinuclear politics. Although there is a large fraction of advanced nuclear innovation happening at startups located in California, California's moratorium on new nuclear plants will force these ventures to seek alternative states in which to build their technologies. California's leadership has shown no interest in competing to win the race to attract all of the talent, federal funding, jobs and economic development that will accompany the growth of this innovative sector and, by all appearances, the state has now fallen behind Texas, Wyoming, Illinois, New York and even Connecticut.
But, there are signs of attitudinal shifts happening even in deep blue California. Both California's progressive Governor, Gavin Newsom, who for years workd to force the retirement of Diablo Canyon, and the state's legislature reversed their decisions at the last minute and delayed the closure of the nuclear facility for five more years. They recognized, if reluctantly, that the plant had reliably provided almost 20% of the state's zero-emission power and 8% of its electricity for decades. Shutting it down would expose the state to dire and life-threatening power outages without the plant's high capacity-factor reliability and highly differentiated, non-intermittent generation. It would also set back progress on the state's climate goals.
Sadly, despite several attempts over the years by elected legislators to bring the state into competitive parity with the country and do away with its 49-year old nuclear moratorium, make exceptions for SMRs, and/or conduct feasibility studies about SMRs, these bills have not made it out of committee. Thus, the state appears poised to miss out on the energy revolution made possible by next-generation nuclear, even with many advanced nuclear ventures being located in California.
An Associated Press survey of state energy policies in 2022 found that about two thirds of the states consider nuclear power as an option to help take the place of fossil fuels. Of the U.S. states which have repealed their moratoriums, most have done so while actively exploring the possibility of adding more nuclear power to their energy mix, recognizing that solar, wind and burning wood or waste is not enough to keep the lights on.
In 2023, with the BIden Administraion pitching coal communities to transition to nuclear power, seven states considered measures related to small modular nuclear, including Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia, Oregon and New Jersey. The Nuclear Energy Institute estimated that there were actually about 200 "nuclear-friendly" energy bills considered by legislatures in 2023, a huge increase from prior years, when just a handful mentioned nuclear. Many of those bills are laying foundations that will be seen later, just as prior years' efforts towards nuclear power are now being seen in a number of key states, that are leading the way towards building new nuclear.
Wyoming, seen as an "early mover," is one that began laying the groundwork to attract and build next-generation nuclear prior to 2020, when Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, signed a bill forbidding coal plants to close but allowing small modular reactor capacity to replace the coal generation capacity. Subsequent legislation in 2022 and 2023 provided regulatory streamlining for advanced reactor deployment and authorized the state to match private funds up to $150 million. These actions helped the state win over TerraPower, the advanced nuclear venture owned by Bill Gates, which is now building infrastructure for what may be the first advanced nuclear power plant near the site of a retiring coal-fired power plant, in Kemmerer, Wyoming. It helped Wyoming a lot that Bill Gates was friends with Warren Buffet whose Wyoming-based company, PacifiCorp owns many struggling coal plants and so found a site they were willing to let TerraPower use.
Michigan and Virginia have also worked to protect and increase their nuclear power and sit at the forefront of resurgent state interest in nuclear energy. Michigan's Democratic Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, worked to prevent the closure of the Palisades nuclear power plant. But, when a mechanical problem forced the plant's sudden closure, the state legislature agreed to put $150 million toward the potential restart of Palisades, in what would be the US' first-ever restart of a shuttered generating station. Under the Biden Adminstration's Civil Nuclear Credit program, the plant subsequently received a $1.5 billion conditional loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy, to help fund the repairs and restart and potentially enable Holtec to build several SMRs on the site as well.
Virginia’s recent pro-nuclear moves include state funding for an energy “career cluster” and a state-supported energy lab that help enable deployment of advanced nuclear reactors near former coal mines. These efforts are designed to attract workers, jobs and investments by companies in the growing advanced nuclear sector, which is poised to begin building SMRs at the country's already shuttered and retiring coal plants. Similar efforts have been underway in an growing list of states, now including Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virgina where officials are working to provide economic and regulatory conditions that will attract development of next-generation nuclear. It is clear that the competition to win this still nascent but highly promising business will be fierce.
In Wisconsin, several lawmakers introduced a resolution calling on the Legislature to publicly support nuclear power and fusion energy. They intend that the state, in passing the resolution, makes what could be deemed a formal declaration that Wisconsin is open for nuclear industry business.
[Note, this article has been and will continue to be updated with more recent information.]
Sources
Office of the Texas Governor | Greg Abbott, Texas Leads As Energy Capital Of The World In 2024, December 27, 2024.
Texas Nuclear Alliance, Texas Nuclear Alliance Members Selected to Build Nuclear Reactors at Texas A&M University System's RELLIS Campus, press release of 2/4/25 by the Texas Nuclear Alliance and Time to Build. (See video of the announcement.)
Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group, Deplying a World-Renowned Nuclear Industry in Texas: Considerations and Recommendations for Action, November 18, 2024.
DOE, Office of Nuclear Energy, What is a Nuclear Moratorium? Sept. 20, 2024
Governor Kathy Hochul, Governor Hochul Commits More Than $1 Billion to Tackle the Climate Crisis – the Single Largest Climate Investment in New York’s History, January 14, 2025.
CALMatters, Artificial intelligence is bringing nuclear power back from the dead — maybe even in California, by Alex Shultz, January 30, 2025.
NYSERDA, Blueprint for Consideration of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies, January 2025
LexisNexis, States Take Another Look at Nuclear Power to Combat Climate Change, Dec. 17, 2023.
Associated Press, Majority of US states pursue nuclear power for emission cuts, by Jennifer McDermott, Jan. 18, 2022.
Utility Dive, As states increasingly look to advanced nuclear, Wyoming, Virginia and Michigan lead the way, by Brian Martucci, April 17, 2024.
Stateline, Federal money could supercharge state efforts to preserve nuclear power, by Alex Brown, February 12, 2024.
Hannah Ritchie, Data Explorer: US State-by-State Electricity Sources, updated in 2025.
Wisconsin Public Radio, 2 GOP state lawmakers pushing to advance nuclear energy in Wisconsin, by Joe Schultz, Feb. 13, 2025
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Advanced Nuclear Customers, Energy abundance, Energy transition, Government support, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear innovation
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