Executive Summary
America is in a period of renewed enthusiasm for and investment in nuclear energy. After decades of public skepticism and political headwinds, nuclear has become a bipartisan solution to the nation’s mounting energy challenges.
The American power grid faces dual crises. Over recent decades, it has become increasingly fragile because of deferred maintenance, aging infrastructure, and vulnerability to extreme weather events. Now it also faces surging demand from reindustrialization, electrification, and artificial intelligence. In this context, nuclear power has become more essential than ever.
Yet, despite the growing consensus around the need to build out the American nuclear fleet, the path forward remains contested. Key questions around technology, policy approach, financing, and potential pitfalls remain unanswered.
This paper has five goals: (1) to establish nuclear’s key advantages, (2) to lay out the rationale for prioritizing large light-water reactors (LLWRs) in the next phase of nuclear deployment, (3) to explain the tools available for enabling a fleet-scale buildout of such reactors, (4) to anticipate potential challenges and pitfalls, and (5) to offer solutions that will speed up the process.
