Atoms and Ambitions

The U.S. and U.K. are reigniting their nuclear ambitions with bold new policies.

At a meeting in July, U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recognized the growing importance of civil nuclear energy when President Trump commented on Rolls-Royce’s selection to build the UK’s first small modular reactors (SMRs). The selection comes months after Starmer’s Labour government established a Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce to spearhead nuclear energy objectives. It had also initiated a massive regulatory overhaul of energy policy that slashed red tape associated with nuclear reactor construction. For its part, the Trump administration had released a series of executive orders to usher in “America’s Nuclear Renaissance” by removing long-standing barriers such as prolonged timelines for nuclear reactor licensing. The aim was to accelerate reactor testing and construction, revamp nuclear fuel management and boost the American nuclear workforce. After decades of neglect, the United States and the United Kingdom are investing significantly in nuclear energy, albeit with different goals in mind.

The United States is already a global leader in nuclear power, but it also seeks “energy dominance” to power strategic goals such as winning the AI race. The country gets approximately 19% of its energy from nuclear sources and is the world’s leading supplier of nuclear energy, accounting for nearly 30% of global supply. But no American reactors were built between 1977 and 2013, and much of the aging infrastructure will be shut down in the coming decades. This could leave an energy gap exacerbated by the Trump administration’s AI action plan, which requires exponential growth in energy sources to power data centers. Trump’s executive orders are an attempt to close this gap by tripling U.S. nuclear energy capacity by 2050. A diverse portfolio of advanced nuclear reactors is necessary for this, including SMRs. These can be constructed directly at data centers and expanded as energy demands increase.

The United Kingdom is also a significant global player in nuclear energy. But unlike the U.S.’s pursuit for dominance, British nuclear aspirations emphasize increased energy security and economic growth. The United Kingdom procures approximately 15% of its electricity from nuclear energy, but the majority of its nuclear reactors are nearing the end of their lifecycles, despite efforts to significantly extend their operations. Failure to build new nuclear energy sources will leave Britain far short of its goal to provide 100% of electricity demand with “clean power” by 2030. It will also heighten economic and energy security concerns that arose after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After a rigorous two-year competition, Rolls-Royce was selected to build the United Kingdom’s first SMRs. Their construction is expected to create at least 3,000 skilled jobs and power nearly 3 million British homes with “clean, secure homegrown energy”.

As Washington strives for energy dominance and London pursues energy security, both need strong public support for their agendas. They may get it. Despite rampant fears of all things nuclear in the decades after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, public support for nuclear energy has risen considerably in recent years. Safety will be important to maintain public buy-in, also because the United States and the United Kingdom want to export their nuclear technologies as part of a global endeavor. Washington aims to pursue 20 additional Agreements for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation by 2029, while UK-based Rolls-Royce intends to export £250 ($332) billion of nuclear energy to countries that have already signed Memorandums of Understanding for nuclear cooperation. These include Czechia, Estonia and Turkey.

Ultimately, the success of this transatlantic nuclear revival will be measured by the durability of regulatory reforms and reactors that connect to the grid safely and on schedule. If the United States and the United Kingdom meet this bar, they will achieve more secure and innovative pathways for economic prosperity and geopolitical influence.

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