Originally published in Baker Institute’s Energy Insights, October 6, 2025.
Introduction: A Strategic Inflection Point
In June 2025, the World Bank officially lifted its longstanding ban on financing nuclear energy projects. The institution’s only previous nuclear loan had been to co-fund Italy’s Garigliano Nuclear Power Plant in 1959, while recent restrictions prohibited not only investing in nuclear power but even barred creating internal expertise on nuclear technology. The strange choice of deliberate ignorance on an existing energy technology stemmed from proliferation risk concerns, the fallout of accidents at Fukushima and Chernobyl, and the outsized influence of a handful of shareholders such as Germany.
The reversal of World Bank policy is a clear sign of how far the nuclear calculus has changed. Global demand for reliable and clean electricity has soared, especially across emerging markets. National goals to cut carbon emissions have made nuclear power even more attractive. The technology itself is evolving, with new smaller, safer, and ideally cheaper models coming to market. But what has really changed is that nuclear has become a major arena of geopolitical competition with Russia and China. President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders to revive nuclear power at home may help speed up domestic deployment, but the real battle for global nuclear influence will be in Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. That is why financing is so crucial.
The World Bank’s cautious return, initially limiting support to extensions for existing plants and encouraging deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency, is more than symbolic. It is a clear sign to other financial institutions that nuclear power is no longer off-limits. This brief maps the current nuclear energy landscape, including technological advances, geopolitical dynamics, and the persistent financing gap. It argues that unless the United States, alongside multilateral institutions, acts decisively to scale up support, it risks ceding long-term influence to Russia and China.
Read the full chapter here.