Cleaner Tech

Billions Flow to US Nuclear Sector With Payoff Still Years Away

Washington’s $80 billion investment in nuclear reactors won’t yield carbon-free power anytime soon.

The control room at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania.Photographer: Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg

After a generation of stagnation, interest in US nuclear energy is sky high, thanks to artificial intelligence’s voracious energy needs. Nuclear companies are stock market darlings, and the Trump administration recently unveiled an $80 billion-plus commitment to help fund new reactors.

There’s just one problem: Hardly anything will be ready to to plug in for a decade.