Is America’s Nuclear Renaissance in Trouble? (w/ Jennifer Gordon)
A wave of optimism has surrounded the U.S. nuclear energy sector in recent years, but that momentum now faces mounting headwinds. Canceled data center projects, a shaky economic outlook, and uncertainty over tariffs have raised new questions about whether America’s nuclear renaissance can stay on track. With nuclear power poised to play a vital role in both the clean energy transition and global strategic competition, the stakes are high—not just for jobs and innovation, but for U.S. influence in a world increasingly shaped by Chinese and Russian state-backed exporters. Can the United States secure its place as a global nuclear leader, or is it falling behind in a high-stakes race?
In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Dr. Jennifer Gordon, Director of the Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative at the Atlantic Council. Gordon previously co-directed the Atlantic Council’s task force on U.S. nuclear energy leadership.
The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Hello, this is Paul Saunders with The National Interest. Thank you for listening today. I’m here today to ask three questions of Jennifer Gordon, who directs nuclear energy programs at the Atlantic Council—a Washington, D.C. think tank. Jennifer, thank you very much for being with us.
Paul, thank you so much.
First question—there’s been a lot of enthusiasm over the last couple of years, in particular, about nuclear energy and its prospects in the United States. A lot of that has been driven by increased energy demand, electricity demand, because of data centers. Now, though, it looks like there may be some new questions about that. There have been some reports that some data centers may be canceled, projects may be canceled. There are concerns about the overall economy—some of that linked to tariffs, others linked to other factors. What do you think? Is the new nuclear renaissance in trouble?
I think even with some of the more recent news, I think there is still a demand for clean, reliable, always-on energy to power data centers, to power AI operations. But I also think that the story—certainly of the last year or two or three for nuclear energy—is much broader than just the data centers and just the tech companies, which are extremely important and a huge part of that story.
First of all, there’s been this push to electrify everything. You do see more electric cars on the road. That creates more of a demand again for this always-on energy. And then there’s also the industrial sector. And so, you have tremendous demand for primarily off-grid users of advanced reactors. And that can look like a company—a steel company, for example—wanting an advanced reactor to power its arc furnace. You can have military installations looking for nuclear—again, off-grid. You can have oil and gas operations in the Permian. You can have oil rigs off of the coast of Alaska. You can have mining operations in Wyoming. You can have all kinds of applications for nuclear that, again, include the tech sector, but I think go far, far beyond it.
When you see so many new types of customers—so much new demand from all these different areas—I think that all points in the direction of success for the nuclear energy industry.
Second question, which is really closely related—tariffs and trade. How important is that to the American nuclear sector? Do the tariffs—and the kind of instability in new tariffs—what impacts could that have on the nuclear sector?
Yeah, absolutely. The first thing I would say is that nuclear is a sector that needs stability in a lot of different areas. And so, it’s not just the tariffs. In terms of the tariffs specifically, though, there’s a world in which tariffs, especially on aluminum and steel or on uranium, could make it really tough to build and deploy the next generation of advanced reactors in the United States. If we end up in trade wars with other countries, it could also make it really difficult to export those reactors once we’re at the stage where we’re able to export next-generation reactors.
That said, it’s too soon to tell in terms of tariffs. I think the tariff story is not complete yet. We’re seeing changes just in the day-to-day right now, even sometimes hour-by-hour. And so I think one question will be—will there be carve-outs for certain products? Will there be carve-outs or allowances for certain countries? How are we going to handle all of that going forward? And I think that’s going to be the thing to really watch.
Third and final question—the nuclear industry in the United States. Many have pinned a lot of hope on that sector as a source of manufacturing jobs and exports. There are security aspects to it—strategic diplomatic dimensions. What does the world look like if the United States can’t make its nuclear sector succeed?
Yeah, absolutely. First of all, it’s really crucial that the United States has a successful and thriving domestic nuclear energy industry, again, so that we are able to export our reactors around the world. And that allows us to uphold the highest standards in safety, security, and nonproliferation globally. It’s also important to work with our partners and allies around the world. And so, we can become greater than the sum of our parts, especially as we try to compete in emerging market countries against state-owned enterprises in countries like Russia and China.
If you have a scenario in which Russia either remains the largest exporter of nuclear energy technologies in the world or is overtaken by China, I think that’s not a great situation because, again, you get back to that question about the standards of safety, security, nonproliferation, whereas we know that when it’s either the United States or the United States and our allies working together, that those standards are upheld. Again, that’s especially important in emerging market countries.
Thank you so much, Jennifer. I could ask you a lot more questions. My format is to ask three, but I’m really delighted to have you with us today. And thanks again to our listeners. This is Paul Saunders with The National Interest with three questions for Jennifer Gordon at the Atlantic Council. Thank you.
Thank you, Paul.