IEA: Is Nuclear the Power for a Low-Emissions Future?

Nuclear power is expected to reach a new record in 2025 according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA’s 2025 report titled ‘The Path to a New Era for Nuclear Energy’ shows momentum behind nuclear power and identifies major challenges in its path.
“It’s clear today that the strong comeback for nuclear energy that the IEA predicted several years ago is well underway, with nuclear set to generate a record level of electricity in 2025,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
“In addition to this, more than 70 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity is under construction globally, one of the highest levels in the last 30 years, and more than 40 countries around the world have plans to expand nuclear’s role in their energy systems. SMRs in particular offer exciting growth potential.
“However, governments and industry must still overcome some significant hurdles on the path to a new era for nuclear energy, starting with delivering new projects on time and on budget – but also in terms of financing and supply chains.”
The current state of nuclear energy
Nuclear power remains the world's second largest low-emissions energy source behind hydropower, producing just under 10% of global electricity supply.
Power demand is growing rapidly with new technologies like AI requiring more electricity for data centres.
The report says that nuclear could be a solution to this growing demand due to its ability to provide firm and flexible energy outputs.
Most existing nuclear power facilities exist in advanced economies, but many of these are old.
The production and enrichment of uranium, the fuel for nuclear power plants, are also highly concentrated.
“Today, more than 99% of the enrichment capacity takes place in four supplier countries, with Russia accounting for 40% of global capacity, the single largest share,” Dr Birol said.
“Highly concentrated markets for nuclear technologies, as well as for uranium production and enrichment, represent a risk factor for the future and underscore the need for greater diversity in supply chains.”
The future of nuclear energy
The IEA report says nuclear’s global map is changing with many projects under construction in China.
The country is on course to overtake both the US and Europe in installed nuclear capacity by 2030.
Nuclear technology innovations are also putting weight behind new projects.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a type of small scale nuclear power plant starting to draw interest from the private sector.
For example, Amazon signed agreements in 2024 to support two SMR project sites and a company that operates in nuclear energy generation.
Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon, says: “Meaningful climate action requires speed and scale — and Amazon continues to explore carbon-free energy solutions.
“We’ve signed agreements to help develop new nuclear energy projects in the US — including enabling the construction of new Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). These advanced nuclear reactors have a smaller physical footprint and can be built more quickly, allowing them to come online sooner.”
The IEA’s report says the introduction of SMRs could lead to lower financing costs and with the right support, SMR installations could reach 80 GW by 2040, accounting for 10% of overall nuclear capacity globally.
The report also sets out that a rapid growth scenario for nuclear would require annual investment to double to US$120bn by 2030.
Nomi Ahmad, CEO of GE Vernova's Financial Services business, says: “Private finance will play a pivotal role in getting future nuclear projects off the ground. By working with regulators, governments, industry, and investors to develop smarter funding approaches, we can overcome cost and schedule challenges, share risks, and accelerate progress.
“SMRs have the potential to break the stigma of run-away costs and schedules and make nuclear energy as easily deployable as a combined cycle project, but first, we need clear government commitment to a nuclear roadmap, a policy to enable sites to be identified and permitted creating a pipeline for developers, nuclear regulators internationally to align on how to leverage each other’s reference projects and for the planning process to be fast tracked in order to meet demand.
“SMRs create the opportunity for a repeatable cycle that creates business cases for investors and supply chain alike, who are champing at the bit to drive economic growth and deliver energy security.”
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