According to the article, the U.S. nuclear industry largely stopped building new plants after the late 20th century, especially following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, which deeply shaped public perception about nuclear risks. For years, natural gas, solar and wind power became the preferred options.
But today, the debate has shifted.
Why is nuclear energy making a comeback?
Because it offers something major technology companies desperately need: constant, reliable electricity with no direct carbon emissions. Unlike solar or wind, which depend on weather conditions, nuclear plants can generate power day and night.
And with the explosive growth of artificial intelligence, data centers are consuming more electricity than ever before. Microsoft, for example, has signed a long-term agreement to restart the undamaged reactor at Three Mile Island, now known as the Crane Clean Energy Center.
The key number:
About 60% of U.S. adults now support adding more nuclear power plants, compared with roughly 43% in 2020. Public opinion is moving quickly.
But enthusiasm alone does not solve the problem.
The obstacles are still huge:
Building nuclear plants is expensive, slow and complicated. Permits, design, safety requirements, logistics and costs have slowed the industry for decades. That is why there is growing attention around small modular reactors, known as SMRs, which promise to be cheaper, faster to build and easier to replicate.
The goal is to manufacture them almost like a series of standardized units, avoiding the massive delays that have plagued traditional nuclear projects.
Nuclear energy is even looking toward space.
NASA wants to develop nuclear reactors for the Moon, capable of producing electricity during the long lunar nights when solar power is not enough. Small nuclear systems are also being considered for long-distance space missions, including possible missions to Mars.
And beyond that lies nuclear fusion, long considered the “holy grail” of clean energy. Unlike traditional nuclear fission, fusion seeks to imitate the process that powers the Sun: joining atoms together to release enormous amounts of energy, without the same emissions or long-lived radioactive waste. But commercial fusion is still likely years away.
In simple terms:
Nuclear energy is no longer being treated as a forbidden topic. It is returning as a possible answer to three major challenges: more electricity, fewer emissions and an economy increasingly powered by artificial intelligence.
The big question now is:
Can the United States build a new generation of nuclear energy safely, quickly and affordably — or will high costs and bureaucracy slow down this historic opportunity once again?
What once seemed like a technology of the past may now become one of the most important pieces of the energy future.
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