Building nuclear

Two weeks ago, Microsoft struck a deal with Constellation Energy to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. In April, Georgia Power declared that a newly built nuclear reactor called Vogtle Unit 4 entered commercial operations. Meanwhile, China has started construction on three nuclear reactors this year, bringing China’s total number of reactors under construction to 28. Many other countries, both developed and developing, are building or planning to build nuclear power. Suffice to say, nuclear power generation is gaining momentum in many parts of the world. Between 2024 and 2026, an additional 29 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity is expected to come online globally. More than half of that is in China and India. In 2025, global electricity generation from nuclear energy is expected to exceed the previous record level in 2021. With respect to the long-term, the International Energy Agency expects nuclear energy generation to more than double by 2050.

Source: World Nuclear Association, September 2024.