AI数据中心推动核电复兴，IIR预计2029年新项目支出近500亿美元

nuclear power plant stack

AI-driven electricity demand is helping revive nuclear investment, with new-project spending projected at about $20 billion in 2026 and nearly $50 billion by 2029.Getty Images

There was supposed to be a nuclear renaissance in the early 2000s. Then the Fukushima disaster in Japan halted that momentum. It led to the closure of most of Germany’s nuclear plants, and nuclear power once again appeared to be in retreat.

Today, the urgent need for more electricity to support AI data centers is giving the sector fresh impetus. Data Center Knowledge covered the trend in February. As 2026 draws to a close, the question is whether this latest attempt to revive nuclear energy is gaining real traction.

“Investment is rising for new and existing nuclear assets amid a sector revival,” said Britt Burt, an analyst at research firm Industrial Info Resource (IIR).

After years of almost no new construction investment, the nuclear spark reignited in 2024. IIR estimates that spending on new projects will total about $20 billion in 2026 and rise to nearly $50 billion by 2029. That growth is being driven not only by surging data center construction, but also by broader increases in electricity demand, the expansion of domestic manufacturing, and the need to replace aging power fleets.

Between late 2026 and 2029, IIR expects $68.3 billion in new nuclear plant spending and around $30 billion more for the expansion, maintenance, or revamp of existing facilities. A large share of that spending is expected to land in Canada, with Ontario and Alberta accounting for roughly $40 billion combined. Texas is next with $15 billion, followed by Tennessee at $10 billion.

According to Burt, the advantages of nuclear energy include operational reliability, zero emissions, and insulation from fuel price volatility. It also creates opportunities for behind-the-meter power. The challenges, however, remain formidable: massive capital costs, public opposition, potential fuel bottlenecks for advanced reactors, and a nuclear workforce that has largely aged out.

IIR is tracking more than 100 nuclear energy projects across North America. Sixty-one involve small modular reactors (SMRs), and 11 involve installing new conventional nuclear reactors. Additional projects include life extensions, modernizations, relicensing, and uprates to existing plants, as well as several efforts to restart retired nuclear assets to supply data centers.

“This signals a genuine nuclear energy revival after decades of stagnation,” Burt said.

Federal Support and Hyperscaler Deals Build Momentum

The US Department of Energy recently offered Constellation Energy a loan of up to $5 billion to finance nuclear uprates and modernization at eight plants in Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The work could add more than 1 GW to the grid. Earlier this year, the DOE also launched a program with funding support for 2.5 GW of additional nuclear capacity by 2027 and 5 GW by 2029.

Rather than waiting until the next decade for new nuclear assets to come online, the goal is to expand output from existing reactors, reopen dormant facilities, and extend the lives of older plants.

Meanwhile, hyperscalers are lending their financial muscle to a variety of nuclear projects. Amazon is working with American Electric Power and X-energy on a 1 GW SMR project in Indiana. Microsoft has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy for power from the refurbished Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, now known as the Crane Clean Energy Center. Google is working with NextEra Energy Resources to restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center, which was shuttered in 2020.

SMRs, Restarts, and Fusion Expand Nuclear’s Role

Multiple types of nuclear initiatives are now underway. In addition to restarting or refurbishing older plants and developing new SMR designs, nuclear fusion is drawing greater attention.

Bellevue, Washington-based ExoFusion is among the companies focused on fusion design, simulation, and innovation. At the Data Center World Power conference in late September 2026, ExoFusion CEO Romi Mahajan outlined an energy stack built from multiple generation technologies. Rather than treating renewables, natural gas, and nuclear as competing alternatives, he argued that all of them will play a part in tomorrow’s energy mix and in providing reliable power for data centers and AI workloads. That view aligns with the approach many hyperscale developers are taking as they pursue every available avenue to secure the power they need.

Far from being purely theoretical, fusion is moving forward along the development timeline. Type One Energy, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, plans to start construction of a fusion power plant at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Energy Complex in Clinton, Tennessee, in 2027.

“The prototype’s purpose is to validate assumptions, advance open science, and [help] train a workforce rather than solve immediate data center power needs,” said Patrick Ellis, director of business development at Type One Energy.

Some of Type One Energy’s design elements are already operating at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X project.

Even so, it may still be years before fusion produces large-scale commercial plants.

Matthias Knolker, head technical solutions architect at General Atomics Magnetic Fusion Energy, said grid-connected commercial fusion demonstration plants and power purchase agreements may not emerge until the mid-2030s. GW-scale deployments, he said, may have to wait until the early 2040s.

While fusion research and development continues, SMRs and the rejuvenation of old nuclear plants are more likely to bear fruit on a timeline that matters to data center operators. The first operating SMRs may be only a couple of years away.

“US progress on SMRs is gaining momentum, but regulatory, financing, and workforce barriers remain,” Knolker said.

Cameron Hughes, an associate at law firm Orrick, said nuclear energy will need an all-of-the-above approach that advances traditional large reactors, SMRs, plant restarts, and power uprates. The market, she said, will decide which forms of nuclear energy prove most viable. On the regulatory front, she pointed to progress in reducing long delays, including long Nuclear Regulatory Commission review timelines.

“Recent reforms have cut key reviews to roughly 18 months,” Hughes said. “Additionally, modularization, factory fabrication, and supply chain improvements could compress deployment schedules once initial commercial projects are built.”

The Big Question: Can Nuclear Deliver Fast Enough?

Nuclear energy is clearly advancing on multiple fronts. It is drawing more funding, scientific support, and entrepreneurial interest than it has in decades. Whether that momentum will translate into enough timely capacity to serve the urgent power needs of AI data centers remains an open question.

“The nuclear renaissance is dependent on aligning many factors – science, engineering, capital, political will, and a skilled workforce,” Mahajan said.

About the Author

Contributor

Drew Robb has been a full-time professional writer and editor for more than twenty years. He currently works freelance for a number of IT publications.