2024 in Review: Navigating the Advanced Nuclear Landscape

By: Justin Lindemann, Senior Policy Analyst

Header image created by Justin Lindemann

In 2024, significant advancements were made toward deploying advanced nuclear, from new federal and state legislation and agency actions to updated utility resource plans, new market developments, and significant new partnerships and investments – with help from the data center industry. An estimated 43 states and U.S. territories in the country had actions (i.e., legislative, executive, regulatory, and utility actions) specifically regarding advanced nuclear during the year.

Stateside Progress

Legislative Actions

Stateside, at least 48 bills/resolutions were introduced in state legislatures nationwide in 2024, and about nine were enacted, compared to 2023, during which at least 66 bills/resolutions were introduced and 13 were enacted. Although there is a drop-off relative to 2023, the number of new bills this past year is impressive, considering some very active state legislatures, like Massachusetts and New York, have two-year sessions and introduced many of their bills during year one in 2023.

Notable 2024 state legislative and regulatory actions include:

  • Governor Jay Inslee of Washington signed a bill into law (H.B. 1924) in late March; as a result, the state must ensure that its pursuit of clean energy includes fusion and create a fusion energy working group to identify new and existing permitting, siting, licensing, and registration pathways for procurement.

  • In late March, Idaho’s state legislature adopted a resolution (S.C.R. 113) declaring the state’s support for advanced energy research, including improving the safety, licensing, and regulation processes for developing advanced nuclear reactors.

  • Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky signed a bill (S.J.R. 140) in early April directing utility regulators to make staffing, organizational, and administrative preparations for the potential sitting and construction of nuclear energy facilities in the state, such as small modular reactors (SMRs). Another bill (S.B. 198) signed this year established a state authority to serve as a non-regulatory agency on nuclear energy development after the legislature overrode the Governor’s veto. The authority will assist interested communities in understanding advanced nuclear opportunities and must submit a site suitability study by December 1, 2025, to identify new reactor locations in the state. Kentucky’s state utility regulators have been directed to prepare for the potential cost and construction of SMRs, including providing training for existing staff on related siting and construction issues, among other things.

  • In mid-April, Virginia lawmakers enacted a pair of bills (H.B. 1491/S.B. 454) that amended certain utilities’ ability to recover the cost of SMR development, encompassing any preliminary analysis, testing, and site evaluation of the utility-owned property, including purchasing property or siting. A utility can only recover an amount that would not increase the typical residential customer’s bill by more than $1.40/month. Project costs can be recovered up to one SMR facility (one or multiple SMRs at a single site), and a rate adjustment clause associated with such a project cannot be implemented before 2026.

  • Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill (H.B. 1645) in mid-May, requiring state utility regulators to report their findings and recommendations by the end of Q1 2025 for potential legislation/actions that could enhance advanced nuclear technology usage, like SMRs, including the economic and technical feasibility of SMRs. Public utilities are also directed to petition regulators to approve retiring a plant with at least 75 MW capacity.

  • New Hampshire legislators enacted a bill (H.B. 1465) in early August, requiring the state’s Department of Energy to continue studying nuclear energy development, including advanced nuclear technologies.

  • Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts signed a bill (S.B. 2967) in late November, which adds fusion energy as an eligible resource to the state’s renewable portfolio standard and adds carbon dioxide removal and nuclear fission to the type of clean energy research and clean energy technologies that the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center may focus on in its research and development activities. The newly enacted bill also allows the state’s Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to coordinate with at least one New England state to consider competitive solicitations for nuclear power in the ISO-NE territory that commenced operations before 2011. If the DOER, alongside the state’s electric utilities, determines by 2026 that a project would provide cost-effective energy to electric ratepayers, among other environmental and cost criteria, the utilities must enter into long-term contracts (10 to 20 years).

  • Ohio lawmakers enacted a bill (H.B. 308) in December, defining nuclear energy as a green energy resource.

Map (above) of states that have enacted a bill in 2024 pertaining to advanced nuclear technologies.

Studies and Reports

As for other statewide actions, several state utility regulators, agencies, and specially crafted working groups have released studies or are in the process of studying how to support and develop advanced nuclear projects, some as a starting point for a statewide nuclear energy framework:

Strong Federal Encouragement

Federally, advanced nuclear has seen a significant surge in interest during the 2024 calendar year. In early March, President Biden signed the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, appropriating unobligated spending from the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act (otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) for commercial utility deployment of a grid-scale Gen. 3+ SMR design and to support design, licensing, supplier development, and site preparation under the Advanced SMR Research, Development, and Demonstration Program. An additional $2.72 billion in unobligated funds has been appropriated for use by existing federal programs to strengthen and develop domestic supply chains for low-enriched uranium and advanced nuclear fuels.

Furthermore, the President signed another bill into law that, among many other things, extends the Price-Anderson Act – which limits the liability of nuclear power plant owners, providing financial relief for people hurt or those held responsible for a nuclear incident – to the end of 2065 and quadruples the federally subsidized liability coverage for nuclear incidents that occur outside the United States, increasing it from $500 million to $2 billion. The increase in liability coverage is significant as American nuclear industry stakeholders increase partnerships with other countries in hopes of expanding development abroad. The President also signed a bill banning imports of low-enriched Russian uranium into the U.S. to reduce foreign fuel dependence and increasingly build a domestic fuel supply chain. The ban bill allowed for a transitional period in which importers can access supply waivers until 2028, which opened last summer.

The Biden administration also made several award announcements to expand critical services needed to support a new generation of nuclear facilities and further develop an independent and domestic HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium) supply chain. In October, several federal contracts were awarded to companies like BWX Technologies, Inc., Centrus, Framatome, GE Vernova, Orano, and Westinghouse to support HALEU deconversion services, alongside an additional four contracts for companies like Louisiana Energy Services and American Centrifuge Operating, to shore up enrichment services in the U.S.

Map (above) of states with legislative, executive, regulatory, and electric investor-owned utility actions (IOUs) in 2024 related to advanced nuclear technologies.

President Biden concluded his string of notable federal legislative enactments by signing in July the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act of 2024, nestled within a bill initially focused only on fire prevention and safety. The ADVANCE Act has provisions on American nuclear leadership, preserving existing nuclear energy generation, fuel supply, and infrastructure and improving the efficiency of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), among others. The following provisions are just some of the most significant parts of the law:

  • The U.S. Secretary of Energy is authorized to award eligible entities (e.g., the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and a non-federal entity) to which the NRC has issued an operating or combined license. The award is equal to the total amount assessed by the NRC related to costs from license issuance, construction permit issuance, or an early site permit. The award categories vary and will be given to the first advanced nuclear reactor that is issued a license, a reactor that uses isotopes derived from spent fuel or depleted uranium as advanced nuclear fuel, and is the first advanced nuclear reactor of such kind to be licensed; a reactor that is a nuclear-integrated energy system (composed of two or more co-located energy storage, generation, or other tech, among other specifications) to which the NRC issues a license; a reactor that flexibly generates electricity or high-temperature process heat for nonelectric use cases, and has also been issued a license; as well as the first reactor for which the NRC grants approval to under the technology-inclusive regulatory framework authorized by the NRC. Fusion reactors are not eligible for this incentive.

  • The NRC must evaluate any modifications to current regulations supporting the establishment of nuclear facilities at brownfield sites. It must also develop and implement strategies to enable timely licensing reviews for nuclear fuel production or fuel utilization facilities (e.g., reactors) at brownfield sites, including retired fossil fuel sites.

  • The NRC must develop risk-informed and performance-based strategies and guidance for licensing and regulating microreactors, including transporting fueled reactors.

  • The NRC must submit a study on risk- and performance-based, design-specific licensing frameworks for mass-manufactured fusion machines no later than one year after this bill’s enactment, conducted with the Agreement States (states that have entered into agreements with the NRC giving them the authority to license and inspect byproduct, source, or special nuclear materials used or possessed within their borders) and the private fusion sector. The study must be conducted no later than one year after this bill’s enactment.

  • The NRC must submit a report on manufacturing and construction for nuclear energy applications, including advanced processes and techniques, and establish a Nuclear Energy Traineeship Subprogram, under which the NRC and higher education and trade school institutions will competitively award traineeships.

The Biden Administration then rounded out its work to advance nuclear energy by publishing a report detailing a first-of-its-kind framework that outlines actions the U.S. government can take to expand nuclear capacity in the country. As part of the report, the U.S. will aim to deploy 200 GW of net new nuclear energy capacity by 2050, a tripling of current capacity. Near-term targets include 25 GW of new capacity by 2035 and sustaining a pace of producing 15 GW/year in the U.S. by 2040. The report details 30 varying actions across nine key pillars, such as building new large, GW-scale reactors, SMRs, and microreactors; extending and expanding existing reactors (through renewals, uprates, and restarts); improving licensing and permitting; developing a fundamental workforce; development component and fuel cycle supply chains; and managing spent nuclear fuel. Furthermore, the administration consulted with federally recognized Tribes nationwide on this document before the year ended.

Other federal developments included the creation of the Senate Advanced Nuclear Caucus in 2024. This bipartisan group, led by U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Jim Risch (R-ID), is dedicated to amplifying the role of nuclear energy and exploring emerging advanced nuclear reactors.

New Nuclear Market Developments

As electric investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and nuclear industry stakeholders have noted, the wave of governmental support from numerous states, Congress, and the Executive Branch has positively impacted advanced nuclear market moves.

Utility Resource Plans

Like in 2023, IOUs continue examining and including SMRs, among other advanced technologies, in their resource plans. Some even removed advanced nuclear from their list of prospective and emerging technologies and firmly added it to their resource preferences for the next one to two decades of planned deployments.

IOUs in the Southeast were especially busy in 2024 as Georgia Power, Duke Energy, and TVA, among others, made further steps in commercializing advanced nuclear in the U.S. The hotbed of activity in the region is no surprise, considering the significant amount of nuclear capacity that continues to grow there and in the South overall.

In Mississippi, after years of anticipating a new integrated resource plan (IRP), the two IOUs in the state, Mississippi Power and Entergy Mississippi, included advanced nuclear in their plans as an emerging resource. Mississippi Power even selected nuclear – which includes SMRs and molten chloride fast reactor nuclear technology – in all of its scenarios and cited the Inflation Reduction Act tax incentives as a major reason. Entergy Arkansas also filed its 2024 IRP, stating in its resource plan that it continues to monitor SMRs as a potential resource.

Image (above) of Plant Vogtle Units 1–4 in Waynesboro, Georgia. (Source: Georgia Power Company)

In late April, Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle Unit 4 started commercial operations, fully incorporating the addition of two Gen III+ reactors and the first new reactors in over three decades. The completion of the reactors, after about 15 years of construction delays and cost overruns, sparked conversations about creating a federal financial backstop that would cover a significant chunk of project cost overruns to incentivize large-scale reactor development after the Vogtle budget ballooned to double the size of initial estimates.

Duke Energy, one of the top utility nuclear operators in the country, is on the verge of several advanced nuclear projects. In Florida, the IRP managing director for the company’s subsidiary in the state testified as part of the 2024 multi-year rate case that it is considering developing next-generation nuclear, including SMRs, on company-owned land in Gainesville. Duke Energy Florida’s siting plan update for the year also mentions the company’s involvement in cooperative work with vendors and industry groups on supply-side technologies like advanced nuclear. Duke Energy in Kentucky is also considering SMRs as a potential replacement for the East Bend dual fuel operation (coal and gas co-firing) by 2039.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, utility regulators approved Duke Energy’s most recent biennial Carbon Plan and IRP (CPIRP) update in November, waiving the utility’s requirements to include a resource portfolio that reduces emissions by 70% by 2030 due to its plans to procure additional nuclear energy, as well as offshore wind resources. The utility plans to procure 600 MW of advanced nuclear by 2035. North Carolina regulators directed Duke Energy to file a comprehensive report by the end of March this year detailing the various licenses and infrastructure held by the utility that may support large-scale light water reactor development at all potential known sites. The report must summarize key developmental milestones and a feasibility timeline for developing each reactor if these resources are to be selected by future modeling. It must also model a large light water reactor as a selectable resource in the subsequent CPIRP filing.

Duke Energy, the parent company, also made headlines during the Spring, signing initial agreements with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Nucor, to help explore new and innovative approaches to support carbon-free energy generation and help utilities serve the future energy needs of large businesses in the Carolinas. The companies proposed developing tariffs explicitly designed to lower the long-term investment costs in clean energy technologies like new nuclear power through early commitments. The agreement includes a proposal for Accelerating Clean Energy (ACE) tariffs that would enable large customers, like those mentioned, to directly support carbon-free energy generation investments through innovative financing structures and contributions that address project risks to lower costs of emerging technologies. The ACE framework would include a voluntary Clean Transition Tariff (CTT), allowing Duke to provide individualized portfolios of new carbon-free energy to commercial and industrial customers. The tariffs would be subject to regulatory approvals in the Carolinas.

Other utilities operating in the Southeast that have made notable announcements include TVA, which released its draft 2025 IRP, including up to 1 GW of advanced nuclear additions across all resource portfolios through 2035 – the final draft is expected in spring/summer 2025, and will contain the utility’s recommended portfolio. TVA also approved $150 million in additional funding to support the continuing design work and development of potential SMRs at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The federal utility is also looking to replace the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Alabama with SMRs to match the estimated 2.35 GW of undeveloped nuclear generation. Meanwhile in South Carolina, Dominion Energy filed its 2024 IRP update, and many, like the 2023 IRP, continue to view SMRs as a feasible supply-side resource option starting in 2040. Farther to the north, Virginia’s Appalachian Power announced plans to locate an SMR in Campbell County, Virginia – the utility’s definition of SMRs includes those with a capacity between 50 and 500 MW.

3D model image (above) of the Natrium plant depicts a nuclear island featuring the Natrium reactor and an energy island consisting of molten salt storage tanks for energy storage. (Source: TerraPower)

In addition to the Southeastern utilities, Iowa’s MidAmerican Energy unveiled noteworthy plans for future construction. The Midwest utility filed its 2024 Resource Evaluation Study in November, detailing its intention to add 345 MW of new nuclear generation in 2036. The utility plans to build an SMR facility alongside 155 MW of salt storage.

Notable Project Deployment

In terms of demonstrable advanced nuclear projects, the market in 2024 showed great promise for the successful deployment and commercialization of projects (fission and fusion) within the next 10 years, including the start of operations of the remaining new Vogtle reactor. After the setback illustrated by the termination of the NuScale and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) project in 2023, there was a substantial market rebound this past year, with major project announcements and agreements made:

  • Oklo, the California-based advanced nuclear technology company, signed several deals with companies across the country this year, including the following:

    • The company entered into a Land Rights Agreement to advance the deployment of two powerhouses in Southern Ohio, building on a 2023 memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI). The agreement grants Oklo the option and right of first refusal to purchase land in Southern Ohio from SODI. (Press Release (2/1/2024))

    • Announced that it has signed a pre-agreement with Equinix, the largest global data center and colocation provider for network and cloud computing, for up to 500 MW of procured nuclear energy. Equinix made a $25 million prepayment to Oklo for a supply of nuclear energy. The deal is the first microreactor deal signed by a colocation data center company. (Article (4/5/2024))

    • Signed a non-binding letter of intent to collaborate with Diamondback Energy, the largest independent producer headquartered in the shale-oil region, on a 20-year PPA to license, build, and operate microreactor powerhouses that can generate 50 MW of electric power. (Press Release (4/8/2024))

    • Partnered with Wyoming Hyperscale through a non-binding letter of intent for collaboration under a 20-year PPA. Wyoming Hyperscale wants to use Oklo’s microreactor design to power a state-of-the-art data center campus using 100 MW of nuclear energy. (Press Release (5/23/2024))

    • Secured a cluster of partnerships for up to 750 MW of power for data centers in the U.S. (Press Release (11/13/2024))

    • Concluded the year by signing a non-binding Master Power Agreement with Switch, a data center provider, to deploy 12 GW of Oklo projects through 2044. The agreement marks one of the largest corporate power agreements in history and establishes a collaborative framework, with expected binding agreements as projects are finalized. (Press Release (12/18/2024))

  • Kairos Power was awarded a construction permit for its Hermes 2 demonstration reactor. The planned reactor will be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and will build on the lessons learned from the Hermes test reactor that received a construction permit in December 2023. (Press Release (11/20/2024))

    • The company also started construction on the Hermes test reactor. This reactor is the first and, as of July 2024, the only Gen IV reactor to be approved for construction by the U.S. NRC and the first non-light-water reactor to be permitted in the country in over 50 years. The company is targeting a 2027 operational date. (Press Release (7/30/2024))

  • Terrestrial Energy, a developer of Gen IV advanced nuclear power plants that use its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) technology for industrial heat and power, and Schneider Electric, signed an MOU to developer commercial opportunities and advance IMSR plant deployment. The IMSR plant technology has various uses, including power for large data centers. (Press Release (4/24/2024))

    • Terrestrial Energy also signed an MOU with EnergySolutions to collaborate on siting and deployment of integral molten salt reactor (IMSR) plants at EnergySolutions-owned sites. (Press Release (12/4/2024))

  • NANO Nuclear Energy, a microreactor developer in the U.S., went public to continue research and development of its ZEUS and ODIN microreactor designs and its HALEU activities, advancing licensed technology to transport commercial amounts of HALEU, development of U.S. domestic source of advanced fuel fabrication for its microreactors and the industry at-large, among other things. (Press Release (5/8/2024))

    • The company also signed an MOU with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate the feasibility of siting, construction, commissioning, operation, and decommissioning of the company’s Zeus and Odin microreactors at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). (Press Release (12/4/2024))

    • The company also announced that it had signed an $8.5 million agreement to purchase nuclear energy technology assets from Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporations (USNC), which filed for bankruptcy in late October. Purchased assets include USNC’s patented Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) system, a 5 MW microreactor system that uses helium as the primary coolant. (Press Release (12/24/2024))

  • Type One Energy, a fusion power system developer, announced its plans to locate its stellarator fusion prototype machine, Infinity One, at the TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant in Clinton, Tennessee. The Infinity One project will help Type One Energy verify essential design features of its fusion pilot plant. The project is part of a tri-party MOU between TVA, Type One Energy, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Press Release (2/21/2024))

  • TerraPower, formally began construction on its 345 MW Natrium molten salt reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The company is going through nonnuclear construction work as it progresses through the NRC certification process. (Press Release (6/10/2024))

  • BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), announced an award for the second phase of a contract with the Wyoming Energy Authority to assess microreactor viability in the state. Phase two includes completing a microreactor design concept, developing a regulatory engagement plan and a microreactor fleet model, and demonstrating the state’s supply chain’s ability to manufacture nuclear components. (Press Release (6/17/2024))

    • BWXT’s Advanced Technologies branch broke ground at INL as part of the U.S. DOE’s Project Pele microreactor, which is being assembled in Virginia. The reactor assembly is set to begin in February 2025 and transport to the INL is scheduled for 2026. It would become the first Gen IV reactor to generate electricity in the U.S. and would generate about 1 to 5 MW for a minimum of three years at full power. (Press Release (9/24/2024))

    • BWXT Advanced Technologies also signed a letter of intent with Tata Chemicals North America to potentially deploy up to eight BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor (BANR) microreactors in southwestern Wyoming at the company’s Green River manufacturing facility to help serve its electricity and industrial processing energy needs. The BANR microreactor consists of 50 MW of thermal power and can be transported via rail, ship, or truck. (Press Release (12/12/2024))

  • Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the largest private fusion company in the world, will invest funds to build the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant at the James River Industrial Center in Chesterfield County, Virginia, on a Dominion Energy-owned site. The fusion system is known as ARC and will generate about 400 MW of electricity — which can power large industrial sites or about 150,000 homes. The company expects to deliver power in the early 2030s. (Press Release (12/17/2024))

  • Alao Atomics, a reactor developer based in Austin, Texas, submitted a pre-application regulatory engagement plan with the NRC for its Alao-1 microreactor. The company aims to have a plant running by 2029 and plans to submit a Part 52 combined construction and operating license application in 2026 to the Commission. The plant would be a factory-fabricated 10 MW sodium-cooled microreactor that uses uranium zirconium hydride fuel elements normally used in university research reactors. The company was awarded a GAIN voucher to collaborate with INL and evaluate modeling and simulation capacity for the microreactor’s fuel and core system, inspired by the MARVEL project. (Press Release (7/1/2024))

    • The company was also granted a provisional 1-acre plot of land at INL by the U.S. DOE for the company’s Aalo-X experimental reactor. The experimental reactor will provide insight for the commercial Aolo-1 reactor, which will be a 10 MW sodium-cooled microreactor. (Press Release (12/10/2024))

  • On-the-ground efforts are already underway to site two 300 MW SMRs from Holtec International on industrial sites along Lake Michigan in Covert Township. (Article (10/15/2024))

  • Westinghouse and Radiant Industries, a California-based microreactor start-up, received $3 million and $2 million, respectively, in funding from the U.S. DOE for their microreactor designs.  The funding is part of the agency’s Demonstration of Microreactors Experiments (DOME) test bed. DOME is intended to accelerate microreactor development in the U.S, and is the first microreactor test bed in the country. Westinghouse is currently developing their eVinci reactor, a transportable 5 MWe microreactor, while Radiant Industries is developing its Kaleidos microreactor, which has a capacity of 1 MWe. (Press Release (11/18/2024))

3D model image (above) of Commonwealth Fusion Systems ARC system. (Source: Commonwealth Fusion Systems)

 

  • Last Energy, a Washington, D.C.-based advanced energy technology company, and the states of Utah and Texas, filed a lawsuit against the NRC in late December. The three parties asked the Eastern District of Texas to exempt Last Energy’s 20 MW reactor design, as well as Texas and Utah university research reactors (including those at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and the University of Utah) from the NRC’s definition of “utilization facilities.” Under the existing Utilization Facility Rule, “utilization facilities” are defined as all domestic commercial and research reactors, even micro-sized facilities, and must meet strict regulatory requirements. The lawsuit stipulates that the NRC “imposes complicated, costly, and time-intensive requirements that even the smallest and safest SMRs and microreactors—down to those not strong enough to power an LED lightbulb—must satisfy to acquire and maintain a construction and operating license.” Parties to the lawsuit request an exemption and for the court to declare that it is unlawful for the NRC to continue permitting the Utilization Facility Rule. (Lawsuit (12/30/2024))

Emerging Energy Demands and Next-Gen Solutions

Furthermore, with the energy demand from the staggering influx of data centers and AI applications already of grave concern to governments, tech companies, and energy providers, many have increasingly begun to view nuclear energy as a 24/7, clean, reliable, and firm generation resource alternative to natural gas to meet said demand, including SMRs and microreactors. A Schneider Electric report published in September encourages this approach, selecting SMRs as a promising remedy for the load challenges presented by data centers and arguing that such reliable low-carbon power can match the demand produced by new data assets.

In 2024, multiple tech and software companies publicized plans to purchase several GWs of nuclear energy to rein in their emissions due to increased data consumption and AI exploration. Towards the end of the year, Meta announced that it would release an RFP to identify nuclear developers to meet its AI and sustainability objectives, targeting at most 4 GW of new nuclear generation. Oracle founder Larry Ellison told investors that the company plans to build a GW-scale data center powered by three SMRs.

Google confirmed the development of 1 GW capacity data centers and mentioned SMRs as a potential power source. In October, the multifaceted tech company signed the world’s first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from Kairos Power’s SMRs to power its data centers. The company will purchase 500 MW from six to seven reactors. Kairos aims to bring its first dual-unit (75 MW of electricity in each unit) SMR online by 2030, followed by additional reactor deployment through 2035.

Meanwhile, Amazon revealed a suite of deals intended to support advanced nuclear energy in the U.S., including an agreement with Dominion Energy in Virginia –  to explore SMR development near the utility’s existing North Anna nuclear power station to bring around 300 MW of new nuclear to the state. State by state, Virginia is far ahead in terms of existing data centers. The northern part of the state is already considered the nation’s most significant market, even the world, with 35% of the globe’s hyper-scale data centers – a type of data center facility that typically supports the business activities of enormous data-driven companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft.

Nuclear technology companies are also making tremendous strides in forming partnerships with data center companies to capitalize on the demand for grid and co-located generation resources. When it comes to such partnerships, one such company that garnered headlines in 2024 was Oklo, which signed early agreements with numerous data center providers for its 15 MW and 50 MW Aurora powerhouse microreactors, including an order of up to 500 MW from Equinix, the largest global data center and colocation provider for network and cloud computing, in April, and 100 MW for Wyoming Hyperscale’s cutting-edge data center campus in May, as mentioned above. To put these agreements into context, data center offerings made up almost half of Oklo’s project pipeline as of Q2 2024 – which does not account for the additional deals reached in the year’s second half, including the historic 12 GW Switch agreement.

Moreover, in support of meeting demand, nuclear industry stakeholders can now also take advantage of additional federal incentives amidst the still fluctuating market and change in federal leadership. At the start of this year, the Clean Electricity Production Credit (45Y) and Clean Electricity Production Credit (48E) became available for nuclear and fusion energy facilities, among other clean energy facilities. The Department of Treasury (Treasury) finalized rules for the 45Y and 48E tax credits early this year, which do not allow them to be combined with the Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit (45U) or Advanced Nuclear Power Production Credit (45J) tax credit, unless it is for a co-located facility that has not used any of these credits, among others. The clean electricity credits are also available for certain recommissioned facilities that meet the following requirements:

(1) The existing facility must have terminated operations;

(2) The existing facility must have a shutdown period of at least one calendar year during which it was not allowed to operate by the NRC;

(3) The restarted facility must be eligible to restart based on an operating license issued by the NRC; and

(4) The existing facility may not have terminated operations to qualify for the clean electricity credits.

Facility owners may also increase these credits if they meet specific domestic content requirements for steel, iron, and manufactured products and projects in an energy community. Owners may also increase the 48E credit by applying for and receiving a bonus credit under the new Clean Electricity Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Amount Program, which applies to clean energy facilities with less than 5 MW capacity, including microreactor facilities of such size.

Certain nuclear reactors at risk of retirement may also qualify for the new clean hydrogen production tax credit (45V), specifically up to 200 MWh per reactor, after the Treasury published final rules at the beginning of this year. A financial test will be used to help calculate the retirement risk of a reactor, similar to the one administered under 45U’s framework. Qualifying nuclear reactors utilized for 45V-eligible clean hydrogen production may also acquire a 45U credit and vice versa. The Treasury’s final rule announcement comes after the agency received thousands of comments in 2024 in response to its original proposal that was revealed in December 2023, which did not initially include nuclear.

Map (above) of energy consumption from data centers in states with significant 2023 load. Data center consumption data depicts the highest-growth scenario states are projected to see in 2030 relative to total electricity consumption. Data Source: EPRI

The proliferation of data center infrastructure and AI coupled with nuclear energy incentives may be an ideal combination to commercialize advanced nuclear technologies and ramp up nuclear generation in the U.S. after decades of slowing down. Even the exiting Biden administration has noticed, as the now-former President signed an executive order during the final days of his tenure, directing the U.S. DOE and the Department of Defense (DOD) to identify federal sites suitable for installing clean energy facilities, including nuclear and fusion energy, that are being or may be built to support data center and AI infrastructure. Both federal agencies must facilitate the deployment of additional nuclear power and any critical supply chain services on federal lands and publish a joint list of 10 priority sites for siting additional nuclear energy capacity that will alleviate new data center load by 2036. The DOE and DOD must also hold competitive solicitations for proposals to lease federal land to develop GW-scale data center infrastructure. Federal permitting agencies must identify opportunities to establish new categorical exclusions to support data infrastructure development. Permitting agencies must also issue all permits and approvals required for AI infrastructure construction on federal lands by the end of the year or as soon as legally possible.

The order also directs federal agencies to consider any actions recommended by the Biden administration’s first-of-its-kind framework for nuclear energy expansion and instructs agencies to develop a plan for engaging U.S. allies and partners on the global AI build-out, including by supporting the development and commercialization of SMRs. Overall, the order is intended to lower barriers to constructing new data centers.

Whether the Trump administration has the same perspective can still be categorized as too early to tell, though recent actions may grant some direction. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new corporate partnership between data-heavy companies like OpenAI and Oracle to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure shows strong support for significantly expanding the quantity of domestic data centers. As for the administration’s perspective on nuclear, current actions favor deployment, as President Trump signed an executive order in mid-January directing all agencies to review any existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and any other agency actions to identify actions that impose an unnecessary burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources, including nuclear energy. However, the order also includes a pause on distributing appropriated funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act until a review has taken place and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy have determined such disbursements are consistent with the overarching policy indicated in the order, which focuses in part on solidifying the U.S. as a global energy leader and protecting the nation’s economic and national security. The order also requires agencies to review existing regulations and actions that impose an additional burden on advancing and using domestic energy resources, including nuclear energy. Many nuclear-based funding opportunities are expected to continue due to the order’s supportive language of nuclear energy resources, the bipartisan congressional endorsement of nuclear, and the favorable precedent from the first Trump administration that was responsible for establishing the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program in 2020.

Looking Forward

All in all, from the noticeable state intrigue and federal support for new nuclear generation to the growing interest and tentative agreements to deploy advanced technologies, 2024 was a recognizable game changer for the commercial development and evolution of advanced nuclear in the U.S. as the industry tries to continue its progress in 2025.

Though 2023 was a mixed bag of progress and failure, with increased attention to the energy demands from electrification, new manufacturing, and—most prominently—data centers and AI, 2024 may be remembered as a promising springboard for advanced nuclear development. The required 24/7 energy supply for much of the new load expected to come in over the next decade has many utilities and varying levels of government advocating and arranging for reliable, resilient, and firm generation, including new nuclear.

Nevertheless, like in previous years, the question still looming over the grid is whether advanced nuclear technologies can be commercialized and successfully integrated. That will depend on the continual growth of support from different levels of government amidst the change in national leadership this year and whether industry stakeholders can follow through with the many agreements, promises, and partnerships made in 2024.

Click here to read the NC Clean Energy Technology Center’s 2023 round-up of noteworthy developments.

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