2024 Summary

2024 has been a significant year for nuclear energy globally, and many countries have seen a major shift in favour of nuclear technology. This includes reversals of nuclear bans, previously shut down reactors being restarted, ambitious plans to build new nuclear, and regulatory reforms to enable this to happen. Here is a summary of some of the key events of 2024.

The USA

In June 2024 the US Senate passed the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy capacity. The Act focuses on accelerating the licensing and creating new incentives for advanced nuclear reactor technologies. The ADVANCE Act passed the House 393–13 and the Senate 88-2. It was signed into law by President Joe Biden in July 2024.

The need to fuel energy-intensive AI has led many politicians to revisit ideas of energy scarcity and instead allow private interests to find innovative ways to utilise nuclear energy. Tech entrepreneurs have capitalised on this opportunity and major tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Nvidia and Meta have announced plans to buy or build nuclear power. It has become a geopolitical argument of either staying in the game or being left out of this critical technology. The new proposals include the following.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania was once the site of the worst nuclear accident in US history. It will now reopen in 2028, as Microsoft has signed a 20-year deal to purchase power from the owner of the plant, Constellation Energy.

A few years ago, the tech giant Amazon was placing its bets on solar and wind farms to power its data centres, but in July 2024 Amazon announced that the increasing demand for AI highlights a need for additional power that wind and solar cannot supply.

Amazon has announced plans to fund the construction of next-generation nuclear plants near its server farms in Virginia and Washington. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund is also supporting X-Energy, a startup focused on designing small modular reactors (SMRs).

In October 2024, Google announced that it had signed a deal to secure several SMRs with the US startup Kairos Power.

In December 2024 the advanced nuclear technology company Oklo and Switch, a premier provider of AI, signed a landmark strategic relationship to deploy 12 gigawatts of advanced nuclear power. This is one of the largest corporate clean power agreements ever signed.

Meta has announced a nuclear program and requested up to 4GW from nuclear developers to power AI innovation.

Nvidia has partnered with PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to build AI inside the plant. Nvidia will work with the nuclear AI company Atomic Canyon to commercially install its Neutron Enterprise at Diablo. This will be the first on-site deployment of AI at a US nuclear power plant.

The East

China is planning to build an additional 100 reactors and in 2024 the country greenlighted 11 reactors, aiming to approval 10 reactors a year to 2035. The expansion will see China’s nuclear power capacity almost quadruple by 2035. Beijing is also looking to become a major exporter of nuclear technology.

Vietnam has announced that it is now resuming its nuclear program, after previously abandoning nuclear energy in favour of coal in 2016. The program will begin by restarting the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant. The government is in the process of amending the Law on Electricity to allow the building and operation of nuclear power plants.

Kazakhstan does not currently have any operating nuclear power plants, but in October 2024 70% of its citizens voted in favour of new nuclear plants in a national referendum. Although Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer, it currently lacks the capacity to generate its own electricity. Kazakhstan has signed several economic agreements with France, including support for developing a civilian nuclear energy program.

The UAE is looking to build new nuclear. In September 2024 the fourth and final reactor of the Barakah nuclear power plant came online. The four units together are now generating 40 TWh of electricity per year, which is almost the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of New Zealand. Following the success of its Barakah nuclear power plant, which was built in collaboration with South Korea, the UAE is planning to build another massive reactor cluster, and in April 2024 the country announced that it is preparing to issue a tender for the construction of a second nuclear power plant.

Japan has completely reversed its policy on nuclear. In December 2024 Japan released a new energy policy which removed Fukushima-era language about reducing nuclear energy. The new policy now calls for nuclear and renewables to be used ‘to the fullest extent’. For the first time, Japan released a target for nuclear energy to compose 20% of the country’s energy mix by 2040, which means keeping all of its current reactors online and replacing old ones over the next decade. Japan also released figures showing that nuclear and solar are the cheapest energy sources. Its new energy plan makes it easier to replace retiring nuclear power plants and will allow decommissioned reactors to be rebuilt on different sites.

Japan has already begun restarting reactors that were shut down a decade ago. On 7 December 2024 Japan restarted Shimane No 2, the 14th reactor to restart post-Fukushima shut downs.

Africa

Kenya has plans to build its first nuclear power plant, and there is strong political support for a nuclear program. In November 2024 Kenya announced that it is on track to start construction on its first nuclear power plant by 2027.

Brazil

In November 2024 Brazil announced that it will be extending the Angra 1 nuclear power unit. The plant went online in 1982 and supplies a city of two million people. A plan has been released to demonstrate how it will be upgraded in line with international standards.

Europe

France plans to build another 6 reactors, with possibly 14 new reactors by 2050, with construction due to start at the Penly nuclear power plant on the Channel coast by 2027.

Energy company Électricité de France (EDF) is also in talks to power three new data centres in France.

Italy’s growing tech expertise in ‘Data Valley’ needs a lot of energy to maintain. As a result of this, Italy has changed its mind about the nuclear ban that has been in place in the country since 2011. In September 2024 the government appointed teams to draft specific laws to address a renewed Italian interest in nuclear energy.

Poland doubled down on its commitment to nuclear energy in January 2024, beginning talks to secure funding for a second nuclear power plant. In October 2024 Poland chose Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant. The ‘Polish Digital Valley’ is home to many tech and AI companies that will need nuclear energy to keep them online.

Sweden is in talks with France about new nuclear power plants and expects to make an announcement in 2025. In 2023 Sweden replaced its energy target of '100% renewable' electricity by 2040 with '100% fossil-free' electricity, allowing nuclear energy under net zero agreements. Sweden plans to construct two large-scale reactors by 2035 and the equivalent of 10 new reactors, including small modular reactors, by 2045. The Swedish nuclear energy company Blykalla is developing and building small modular reactors. In November 2024 Sweden signed an MoU with Switzerland-based ABB to collaborate on SMR development.

The UK has extended the lifespan of 4 nuclear reactors: Heysham 2 and Torness will keep producing power until March 2030 and Heysham 1 and Hartlepool until March 2027. In December 2024 Britain’s first nuclear reactor in 30 years was installed at Hinkley Point C. The UK Energy Secretary has also announced plans to follow in the footsteps of the AI nuclear boom in the US by allowing private financing with operators and developers of nuclear power plants to submit similar plans in Britain.

Germany After phasing out nuclear energy with its disastrous Energiewende policy, Germany now serves as a cautionary tale for what can go wrong when following ideology over physics. Germany is suffering considerable cost increases that are directly leading to deindustrialisation, and increased CO2 emissions due to continued reliance on coal and gas. Other countries are now taking note of the failure of Energiewende:

In December 2024 Norway announced that it is campaigning to cut energy links to Europe as power prices soar due to demand from Denmark, UK and Germany when the wind isn't blowing.
In December 2024 Sweden publicly criticised Germany’s failed energy policy, with Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Ebba Busch stating that "she's furious with Germany" for dismantling its nuclear power plants, as it has caused a spike in energy prices in Sweden. Busch has called for Germany to split its electricity price zone and allow EU funds to go toward nuclear power plants.

On 11 December 2024 the front page of a major Japanese business newspaper announced: “Germany stalls a miscalculated decision to abandon nuclear”.

But even for Germany, change is in the air. Germany’s largest opposition party alliance has called for an expert assessment to re-evaluate the viability of nuclear energy, with a focus on whether recently decommissioned nuclear power plants can be reactivated. In November 2024 the German government collapsed over disagreement over the debt brake, and Germany still needs financial aid for the continuation of Energiewende.

A recent paper by Jan Emblemsvåg published in the International Journal of Sustainable Energy put the cost of Energiewende at almost €700 billion. According to the latest polls, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by Friedrich Merz, is expected to win the snap election on 23 February. Merz has argued for greater openness to technology, and may reverse the nuclear phase out if he gains power.

Financial overview

Nuclear-related stocks are among the best performing of the year, including legacy fleet operators such as Constellation Energy, Vistra, Excelon, Entergy, and Talen, which are all up between 40% and over 200%. SMR reactors NuScale and OKLO are up over 200%.

During Climate Week in NYC in September 2024, 14 financial institutions expressed support for the call to action to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050, including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ares Management, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Brookfield, Citi, Credit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley, Rothschild & Co., Segra Capital Management, and Societe Generale.

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