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Back to the Future
If you had asked U.S. public utilities and government officials in 1967 to predict how America would power its grid in 2025, most would have said “nuclear.” That year—the height of atomic-age optimism—U.S. utility companies ordered 50 nuclear reactors, followed by another 196 over the next seven years. Long before climate change registered in the public consciousness, America was on track to rely on nuclear for a majority of its cost-effective, carbon-free electricity.
But that vision never fully materialized. A high-profile incident at Three Mile Island and the disaster at Chernobyl shook public confidence, prompting new regulations and stalling the nuclear industry. At the same time, electricity demand slowed, and in the absence of viable alternatives, the industry turned back to coal and oil. Just as the U.S. had built out its heavy nuclear manufacturing capacity, projects were delayed or canceled.
The dream of a thriving nuclear economy and supply chain went dormant. Until now!
New Technology, New Opportunity
Today, tech companies are racing to deploy AI, but they need more power to unlock the next wave of innovation. At the same time, mounting public pressure to decarbonize is forcing the industry to seek cleaner energy sources. These twin pressures—soaring electricity demand and the push for sustainability—have breathed life into the nuclear industry.
But it’s not just about supply and demand. For the first time in recent memory, a single energy source aligns with both Democratic and Republican priorities. Rebuilding our nuclear capacity strengthens national security through energy independence, keeps America competitive in the global tech race, and accelerates progress toward net zero.
This broad-based appeal has translated into momentum. In 2024, Bechtel helped Georgia Power bring the second of two new Westinghouse AP1000 large-scale reactor units online—America’s first newly constructed nuclear units in 30 years. Bechtel also established a partnership with TerraPower, the Bill Gates-backed startup, to build a sodium fast reactor, which recently broke ground in Wyoming. And nuclear’s comeback isn’t just confined to the U.S., Bechtel is currently constructing Poland’s first-ever nuclear power complex.
This year also looks promising. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) just selected Bechtel to build a first-of-its-kind GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR)—an announcement that bodes particularly well for the future of nuclear energy.
New reactor designs are safer than ever, with passive, ‘fail-safe’ designs that are more efficient and easier to modularize and standardize. That’s particularly the case with SMRs, which not only provide clean, secure, reliable power but offer unparalleled flexibility. With a small footprint, they require fewer capital resources and can be deployed quicker, and in a wider range of locations.
Ultimately, embracing a growing diversity of reactor technologies is the industry’s best hope for creating a thriving sector. Large, gigawatt-scale reactors have a track record of achieving high performance, significant output, and economies of scale. When we build them successfully, it sharpens the industry's expertise and grows the supply chain and workforce for all future reactor deployments. We’re seeing this at Bechtel right now, as we bring lessons learned on large-scale reactor projects to our work on an SMR with TVA.
Building a Path to Affordability
For that to happen, we must push these technologies down the cost curve by building more units. As with any new technology, once standardization and repetition are achieved, construction schedules shorten, and costs go down. Over time, economies of scale are realized. This is true for every aspect of project delivery including engineering design, permitting, manufacturing, and construction.
We had just reached this tipping point in the 1970s before nuclear’s decline. Now, we’re on track to reach it again over the next 10 to 15 years. But getting there will require a deep commitment from stakeholders to standardize the designs, reduce constructability risk, and accelerate affordability.
That begins with reducing the financial risk for first movers. Early projects are more likely to encounter unforeseen costs or delays—often deterring would-be nuclear investors. However, if the U.S. government were to increase its investment and offer targeted, timebound incentives—it could provide first movers with the financial security needed to drive the industry forward. The government could also see significant returns on its investment in the form of tax revenue, job creation, and overall economic growth.
Beyond reducing financial risks, the government can further lower costs by streamlining the regulatory process. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) upholds the world’s highest safety standards, but with additional resources, it could accelerate the permitting and approval process without compromising its rigorous oversight, especially as standardization becomes a reality. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy, working alongside the NRC and utility companies, must prioritize establishing a permanent storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. A long-term solution is critical to reinforcing public confidence in nuclear’s safety.
That said, investment and regulatory reform won’t fast-track the development of nuclear plants without the engineers to design them and the craft professionals to build them. Currently, only a handful of U.S. universities offer nuclear engineering programs, and there’s a growing shortage of workers in skilled trades like welding and electrical work.
To address this gap, industry partners and utilities should collaborate with governments, universities, and high schools to revive nuclear engineering programs and expand vocational training opportunities. They also have a responsibility to support workers with stable, well-paying jobs, and safe work environments for craft professionals, so that young people see a promising future for themselves in construction.
Finally, it’s incumbent on plant owners, manufacturers, and engineering and construction firms like ours to accept nothing less than excellence. As governments and companies around the world decide how to power their grids, they will look to flagship projects like Vogtle, TVA, Natrium, and Poland as test cases. That’s why at Bechtel, we’re leaving no stone unturned. Any opportunity to unlock efficiency—whether it’s through workforce development, digital deployment, or quality imperatives—we’re seizing it.
On the Brink of a Better Future
If you asked an energy expert today how America will power its grid in 2045, they’d likely mention a mix of solutions, including solar, wind, gas, and nuclear. Meeting rising energy demand—driven by AI and the electrification of industrial sectors—while decarbonizing the grid will require a “more of everything” approach. But there is no doubt that nuclear, with its scale, reliability, and carbon-free output, will be a central part of the solution.
In many ways, we are back where we thought we were in the 1960s—at the precipice of an exciting transformation. But the stakes are even higher. Access to abundant, affordable, clean energy has never been more central to economic prosperity and national security. Fortunately, the hard-earned lessons of the past show us that a better future is possible—if we commit to building it.