Learn the facts about how nuclear power is created, why it’s necessary for our future, and how The Nuclear Company is ready to lead the industry.
Civilization is powered by highly concentrated and controlled energy sources directed to meet our demand. Right now, global energy demand is rising as baseload power—supplied primarily by coal—is going offline.
This demand is being accelerated by unstoppable megatrends, all of which require 24/7 firm, carbon-free power: deglobalization and the reindustrialization of developed countries, artificial intelligence and advanced computing, the electrification of everything (including transportation), and the world’s decarbonization goals.
This energy must come from somewhere. All serious projections of action on carbon emissions while growing the economy assume a net increase in global clean energy production. While renewables like solar and wind are important, they are not on track to replace fossil fuels and meet our decarbonization targets.
Nuclear reactors are increasingly regarded by experts as central and crucial parts of the world’s future energy supply due to their zero carbon emissions, long lifespans, and reliable, 24/7 power output.
Nuclear power is also an issue of national security. In order to build and retain dominance in the energy landscape and nuclear industry, the U.S. will need to restart construction, secure supply chains, and work with our allies to reinvigorate the industry and maintain our position as standard bearers in safety and regulations.
While solar and wind are an important piece of the puzzle, they are not on track to replace fossil fuels broadly and to meet our decarbonization targets.
In addition, solar and wind infrastructure has a design life of ~20 years, requires large swathes of land and expansion to grid infrastructure, and they are intermittent energy sources, meaning they only produce energy ~20% of the time. They therefore require massive battery storage, which entails its own costs and environmental impacts.
Nuclear reactors operate with zero carbon emissions, have a design life of 60+ years (with the opportunity to extend up to 100 years), and provide reliable, 24/7 power at much larger scales. With a capacity factor of 93.1%, nuclear is the most reliable base load energy source we have.
Since 1990, approximately 19–20% of total annual US electricity generation has come from nuclear reactors, accounting for approximately 47% of the country’s clean energy. There are currently 94 nuclear reactors operating in 54 sites across 28 states.
The universe is made up of atoms, which are made up of subatomic particles called neutrons and protons. Breaking apart (“fissioning”) a heavy atom, like uranium, releases an immense amount of energy stored in the bonds between neutrons and protons.
The fuel used in all of the world’s commercial nuclear plants is uranium. When a heavy atom like uranium undergoes fission, energetic smaller particles emerge and can split other uranium atoms when they collide. This in turn can set off a chain reaction. When a chain of uranium atoms splits, the parts fly away from each other extremely fast, releasing most of their energy as heat.
Nuclear reactors are engineered to initiate and contain these chain reactions using the uranium atoms in small fuel pellets. Inside a reactor, hundreds of fuel rods composed of stacks of pellets are connected into fuel assemblies. Water is pumped up through these hot fuel assemblies, picking up enough heat to generate large amounts of steam. The steam flows through a giant turbine at high pressure, spinning the turbine at a rapid, precise speed to make electricity.
Reactors operate, on average, 18 months between refueling, with about a third of the fuel replaced during each refueling stage. Compared to fossil fuel combustion, nuclear fission releases around a million times more useful energy per reaction.
Uranium is a heavy metal formed in energetic cosmic events, either in collapsing megastars called supernovas or in the collision of dense, dark stars called neutron stars.
After being formed, uranium spreads across space, and some ends up deposited in rocky planets like Earth. Uranium is common in Earth’s crust, and water erosion washes uranium into underground deposits and the ocean over time.
Canada and Kazakhstan currently host most of the world’s active uranium production, followed by Australia and Namibia. But because so little uranium is needed to fuel the world’s active nuclear reactors, exploration for uranium is still in its infancy. New deposits have been discovered in many countries, waiting only for demand to unlock mining efforts.
Over half of current uranium production and most new mines involve drilling wells to pump uranium to the surface instead of digging tunnels or pits. This method is called in-situ recovery, or ISR.
Mining together with recycling used fuel and collecting uranium dissolved in ocean water, creates plentiful reserves. These reserves are expected to be maintained at a fairly high level to provide energy security for utilities and governments.
Nuclear power is remarkably safe and highly regulated. When we look to human health and its correlation to power generation, we see clear metrics.
The first is air pollution. Millions of people die prematurely every year as a result of air pollution. Fossil fuels and the burning of biomass—wood, dung, and charcoal—are responsible for most of those deaths.
The second is accidents. This includes accidents in the mining and extraction of fuels like coal, rare earth metals, oil, and gas. It also includes accidents in transporting raw materials and infrastructure, the construction of the power plant, or its maintenance.
The third is greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuels are the main source of greenhouse gasses, the primary driver of climate change. In 2020, 91% of global CO2 emissions came from fossil fuels and industrial land use. This is one of the reasons the United States made the commitment to triple our nuclear capacity at COP28.
Nuclear power emits no air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions, avoiding the adverse air and water quality effects that can come from burning oil, gas, and coal. It also requires significantly less acreage to churn out equal amounts of energy compared to other clean energy sources.
Technicians and engineers in this field who work on reactor maintenance are some of the world’s most highly trained and regulated professionals. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) strictly enforces its regulatory guidelines for nuclear reactor operators (utilities) and conducts regular audits of nuclear reactors’ operations and maintenance. Any citations are met with heavy fines and immediate remediations. Additionally, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) imposes strict regulations and requirements for nuclear plants from construction through decommissioning.
See “How is nuclear power regulated?” below for more information on national and international safety and regulations.
Additionally, major nuclear accidents are exceedingly unlikely, as modern nuclear reactors are designed and developed with decades of experience to cope with any known and unknown risks. The small number of historical nuclear accidents caused few casualties, and improvements in technology, enhanced regulations, and rigorous safety measures make nuclear power one of the safest methods of generating electricity compared to other energy sources.
Regulatory frameworks for nuclear power vary by country, but track roughly to decisions made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The IAEA, an intergovernmental, United Nations agency, establishes international standards for nuclear safety, security, and non-proliferation. It sets guidelines for the safe use of nuclear materials and technology, and conducts peer reviews and inspections. The IAEA also promotes the peaceful use of nuclear power and inhibits its use for military purposes as the UN’s global nuclear watchdog.
National regulatory authorities like the NRC, the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation, and France’s Nuclear Safety Authority issue licenses to and regulate nuclear power plants, fuel cycle facilities, and reactors; monitor radiation safety standards; oversee the transportation, storage, and disposal of nuclear waste; and conduct safety inspections and enforce compliance in their own countries. In the United States, the NRC regulates civilian and military nuclear plant licensing, construction, operations, maintenance, and decommissioning.
In addition, environmental protection agencies like the EPA enforce compliance with national environmental laws related to emissions, impact assessments, and waste.
Because in the 20th century the United States was the leader in building nuclear power, the NRC has historically led the world in creating safety and environmental standards. Ceding our leadership position in the industry globally would entail also ceding the standard-bearer position for regulations to geopolitical competitors with different, often less sound, safety and environmental standards.
While some experimental reactor designs hold promise, they are as of now unproven and unapproved by the NRC. The NRC’s review schedule alone for among the first of these technologies is slated to require at least two years. They are thus at best several years from operations-ready.
Much recent attention has been given to small modular reactors (SMRs) in particular. These small reactors produce much less electricity (50-300 MW) than the large light water reactors active in the United States and worldwide. So far there are no commercially operating SMRs in the U.S.
Even if SMR designs clear regulatory hurdles, they are too small to make a serious difference for increasing energy demand. With the Department of Energy proposing an additional 200 GW of nuclear power by 2050 to help meet the country’s international climate pledges, The Nuclear Company will focus on building proven, regulatory-approved large-reactor technology with a proven consortium of partners.
For more information, see “Why do we need nuclear power?”
The United States’ major competitors are increasingly pulling ahead in the development of their respective industries.
Russia is building reactors for itself and in countries around the world, including Turkey, Egypt, India, and Bangladesh. Russia currently dominates international reactor sales, with technology that it has proven it can build at home for itself.
China builds reactor designs from around the world and its own development, including copies of advanced American designs, and is building more reactors than the rest of the world put together. With zero commercial reactors in 1990, China will likely take the world lead on nuclear capacity within the next decade.
Although both Russia and China are developing novel reactor designs, the vast majority of their domestic construction and overseas orders are for large traditional reactors. If the U.S. is not building its best designs at home, we will struggle to sell overseas. If we cannot sell overseas, our allies and economic partners will either continue to rely on other forms of energy or go to our competitors to build nuclear plants.
As modern nuclear plants are expected to last up to or beyond a century, this represents a crucial link between countries buying and countries selling commercial plants, as well as maintaining supply chains and setting standards for safety and regulations.
America's nuclear industry directly employs nearly 60,000 workers in high-paying jobs, roles ranging from nuclear, mechanical, electrical, chemical, and civil engineers to electricians, operators, maintenance workers, and security.
Beyond these, constructing nuclear plants requires specialized workers such as welders, pipe fitters, concrete and rebar technicians, and electricians. The U.S. Department of Energy noted at peak construction that Vogtle units 3 and 4, the first two new nuclear reactors constructed in the United States in more than 30 years, required more than 9,000 workers. The units will support more than 800 union jobs on a permanent basis.
North America's Building Trades Unions, which represents more than 3 million skilled workers, strongly supports the nuclear industry and has called for government officials to "prioritize reforms that fix widely acknowledged market rule flaws that unfairly disadvantage nuclear plants, which are an indispensable component of a resilient and secure electric grid, and serve as economic and employment engines for the communities they serve."
Nuclear plants typically create 500 permanent jobs per gigawatt with an hourly median wage of $41, according to the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
If America successfully builds 200 GW of nuclear reactors by 2050, as the U.S. Department of Energy has suggested, there will be 100,000 permanent jobs created in addition to the estimated 275,000 required to build them.
The impact of those jobs create prosperity in local communities with outsize effects. The World Nuclear Association has found a typical 1 GW nuclear plant creates $470 million in electricity sales and $40 million in worker income annually. For every $1 created locally, nuclear power plants generate an economic output of $1.87 nationally. A typical plant also contributes $83 million in annual taxes, supporting government programs, schools, and first responders.
While some experimental reactor designs hold promise, they are as of now unproven and unapproved by the NRC. The NRC’s review schedule alone for among the first of these technologies is slated to require at least two years. They are thus at best several years from operations-ready.
Much recent attention has been given to small modular reactors (SMRs) in particular. These small reactors produce much less electricity (50-300 MW) than the large light water reactors active in the United States and worldwide. So far there are no commercially operating SMRs in the U.S.
Even if SMR designs clear regulatory hurdles, they are too small to make a serious difference for increasing energy demand. With the Department of Energy proposing an additional 200 GW of nuclear power by 2050 to help meet the country’s international climate pledges, The Nuclear Company will focus on building proven, regulatory-approved large-reactor technology with a proven consortium of partners.
For more information, see “Why do we need nuclear power?”
Nuclear infrastructure is expensive and time-consuming to build, which is why the U.S. has only built two new reactors in the last 30 years.
The Nuclear Company was created to ensure that no one entity bears the exclusive burden of building nuclear infrastructure in the United States. We’ve created a new way of establishing the essential work streams and division of responsibilities for a consortium of industry partners that will ultimately make new nuclear deployments cost effective through scalable economics.
In short, The Nuclear Company enables the deployment of many nuclear power plants at fleet-scale by integrating a broad coalition of industry partners and government support, and creating synergies between them through comprehensive program management.
The Nuclear Company’s approach can be articulated through our four-pronged strategy:
While most companies are focused on the next reactor technology, The Nuclear Company is designed to do the rest: lowering development and project costs where it counts and using proven, safe technology that is regulatory-approved now.