Global energy volatility and geopolitical tensions are fundamentally reshaping national power strategies. Last year we saw governments across multiple continents commit to making nuclear power a core pillar of their energy security policies.
There are more noteworthy developments than we have space to discuss, but the examples below paint a clear picture that nuclear power is increasingly set to provide a reliable, dispatchable foundation necessary for twenty-first century energy security.
European Policy Reversals
The European energy landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation in policy. Several nations once committed to nuclear phase-outs are now reversing course.
The Belgian parliament, reacting to energy market volatility caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has voted to repeal its phase out of nuclear power. Denmark is re-evaluating its four-decade-long prohibition on nuclear technology, with a report slated to publish this year. The current leadership in Germany and Italy are also looking favorably towards rebuilding their phased out nuclear industry.
Sweden is funding a new generation of nuclear reactors and is proposing to lift its domestic ban on uranium mining. Its Energy and Industry Minister Ebba Busch called on the European Commission to include nuclear as a key source of baseload power, explaining that “Europe must now create an energy sector that secures our independence.”
Public and Private Energy Security in North America
The nuclear landscape in the United States is being propelled both by governments and the private sector. At a federal level, the President’s recent executive orders to promote nuclear energy would quadruple its domestic capacity by 2050 and provide reliable power to military installations.
There is also a lot of movement at the state level. New York aims to add one gigawatt of nuclear power for its upstate communities by 2040. Texas, which has seen many weather-related grid disruptions in the past few years, is increasingly optimistic about Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) following the report from its Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group. In early 2025, Texas A&M – one of the countries’ largest universities – announced that it will host SMR testing facilities.
American technology companies are a major driver of nuclear development as their data centers’ electricity needs are set to exceed the grids they are connected to. Their search for a reliable, always-on source of power has led them to nuclear, and there have been many deals inked in 2025 to put SMRs at the center of corporate energy security.
Canada is already on track to be the first G7 nation to build an SMR through its Darlington SMR project in Ontario. Its federal government recently gave this initiative a major boost with a $2 billion contribution.
At a provincial level, the government of Saskatchewan writes in their recently released First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan that it is “committed to a nuclear future”. This includes leveraging its significant uranium reserves, building an SMR and exploring opportunities for large-scale reactors to meet growing demand.
Asia Accelerates for Domestic Stability
Japan has been struggling with steady inflation, due in part to the cost of imported fossil fuels. Its new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is looking to fix this in part by reviving its nuclear industry – increasing its role in the country’s energy mix from less than 10% today to 20% in 2040.
“A stable and affordable energy supply is essential to sustain citizens’ livelihoods and domestic industries, and to strengthen our competitiveness,” Takaichi said. “Domestically produced energy sources, particularly nuclear power and perovskite solar cells, are particularly important for that.”
This summer, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that energy security is the “highest priority” for its government. The country has been in a tense position due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It has become the biggest buyer of Russian crude, but is also navigating sanctions on its shipping imposed by Western countries.
India is urgently focused on securing reliable and predictable power for its population’s expanding needs. This includes aggressively pursuing a target of 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047. Its Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is developing three types of demonstration SMRs and its state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. plans to add 18 new nuclear reactors by 2032.
Taiwan is a particularly interesting case. It imports more than 95% of its energy and shut down its last nuclear reactor in 2025. It has a booming technology sector with high energy needs. It relies significantly on liquid natural gas, but simulations suggest that in the event of a Chinese blockade, Taiwan could run out of its LNG reserves in just ten days. A recent referendum on restarting a nuclear power plan failed to meet the threshold to pass, even though those in favor significantly outnumbered those opposed.
Nuclear Key to Africa’s Universal Access
In Africa, energy security isn’t just about shifting to more reliable energy sources – it means bringing electricity to new regions to meet the United Nation’s target of universal access to electricity by 2030.
As the UN Economic Commission’s Executive Secretary for Africa Claver Gatete wrote last summer, the continent accounts for 17% of the world’s population but generates less than 3% of global electricity. In rural Africa, 70-80 million people a year need to get connected to a power source to meet the UN’s goal.
There is a lot of movement towards nuclear power in the continent. Seven countries are committed to start or expand their nuclear programs, and a further eleven are actively evaluating how to add nuclear energy to their electricity systems. Egypt is building four 1,200 MW reactors and Ghana is working with an American SMR company to build its first nuclear power plant.
As Dr. Lassina Zerbo, Chairman of the the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board explained, “small modular reactors and microreactors are the fastest way to address our energy insecurity — and to achieve energy sovereignty, which is crucial for tackling energy poverty.”
Localizing Power for Climate Goals
A recent study from Siemens Smart Infrastructure reflects the sentiment behind the announcements above. Having a resilient energy supply should be the top governmental priority, according to their global interviews with senior executives and government representatives.
As the study explains, this is a major shift “from a multilateral vision of clean energy to one increasingly centered on sovereign resilience and regional production”.
Advanced nuclear technology like SMRs provide the kind of locally-produced, always-on power for an energy mix that enhances energy security without sacrificing climate goals.
