Welcome to the dawn of a second Atomic Age

Simply put, we won’t reach our clean energy targets without nuclear playing a major role.

While solar and wind have seen terrific growth in the past 20 years, they will soon reach a plateau. This is mostly due to the cost of unreliability and interconnection complexity. The ideal energy mix varies by location, but even in the sunniest or windiest places, we won’t see large grids powered exclusively by solar and wind.

Like solar and wind, nuclear had a rapid expansion in its first 20 years. By the 1960s — 70s, nuclear had become Earth’s cheapest energy source (cheaper than coal at 5¢ / kWh in 2023 dollars). This was the first Atomic Age, and nuclear’s future looked bright.

However, this momentum hit a wall in the 1980s. Climate change was less of a concern then. New energy demand in the West was slowing. The public didn’t feel nuclear was worth its perceived risks. As a result, the regulatory ratchet began to tighten with limited pushback. This caused a regression in nuclear’s economics, and halted innovation (the one thing that can lower costs, while maintaining safety).

But nuclear is coming back into the spotlight in a big way. We are on the verge of a second Atomic Age.

In the past three years, public sentiment on nuclear has improved rapidly. People are realizing that fear of nuclear waste is misplaced, and that nuclear energy is statistically just as safe as solar and wind. People are seeing that nuclear has been a critical part of any major grid that has successfully decarbonized.

Energy independence has become a critical issue, with nuclear being seen as a primary solution. It’s easy for countries to stockpile years-worth of uranium, whereas oil and gas must be bought and replenished constantly (sometimes from countries you can’t count on).

Many new mining operations will soon be spun up to keep pace with short-term demand for solar and wind. The vast amount of material and land required in this buildout will highlight that nuclear requires the least raw material and land per unit energy produced.

Above all, nuclear goes beyond solving these pressing challenges of the day. It will unlock an even more exciting future full of invention, exploration, and growth, made possible by access to greater quantities of low cost, high density, carbon-free energy.