AI’s power appetite just brought nuclear back from the dead. Once priced out by cheap gas and slow builds, tech companies desperate for reliable electricity are now writing checks to bring them back.

The atomic fix: US electricity use hit a record high in 2024, fueled by AI and data centers — and the demand is only accelerating. That’s where nuclear steps in — it runs nonstop, emits no carbon, and tackles both reliability concerns and corporate climate goals. As data centers consume vast amounts of power around the clock, nuclear stands out as one of the few sources that can keep pace. Thanks to this, the US government and major corporations are now pouring billions into reviving nuclear capacity:

• The US partnered with Westinghouse, BrookfieldBAM
  , and CamecoCCJ
  to deploy $80B in AP1000 reactors under a Japan trade deal earmarking $100B for US projects.
• Similarly, GoogleGOOGL
  and NextEraNEE
  are investing $1.6B to restart Iowa’s Duane Arnold plant, delivering 615 MW of clean power for AI operations.

Reigniting the Core

After decades of setbacks, the industry’s revival isn’t without scars. The last US reactors built at Georgia’s Vogtle plant ran years late and cost more than twice their $14B budget, sending Westinghouse into bankruptcy in 2017. Yet the calculus has flipped — AI’s nonstop power demand has made long-term nuclear investments viable again. Tech firms are now committing to multi-decade purchase agreements and funding reactor restarts once written off as too risky, signaling a full-scale revaluation of nuclear’s role in America’s energy future.

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the US reactor deal “supports our national security objectives and enhances our critical infrastructure,” with over 100K construction jobs expected.
• The Duane Arnold project will also improve Iowa’s grid reliability, supplying Google’s AI operations while selling surplus electricity to Central Iowa Power Cooperative.

Racing against time: Nuclear’s history of delays and cost overruns is exactly what killed it before. Reopening shuttered plants is faster and cheaper than starting from scratch — with Google’s Iowa facility set for 2029, Microsoft’s Three Mile Island project aiming for 2027, and Michigan’s Palisades plant expected back online this year. But if nuclear can’t deliver on time, AI’s surging power demand could quickly outgrow even these ambitious comeback plans, pushing the industry toward another reckoning.