Advanced Nuclear

The Issue

Nuclear power is a reliable and low-carbon technology that can help the world reduce emissions while providing abundant energy. However, deploying nuclear power in emerging markets faces multiple barriers, including adequate financing.

Relevance

Most global energy demand growth in the coming decades will be in Asia and other emerging markets. Advanced nuclear designs will be especially attractive to meet this need, while many countries are actively preparing to adopt the technology. Yet most development finance institutions, which provide critical infrastructure investment, are wholly unprepared for nuclear — or actively prohibit it.

Our Approach

We start with the data. We map the global market for nuclear by estimating future energy demand and scoring all countries on their nuclear readiness. This work provides evidence to make our case for why nuclear financing will be needed in emerging markets. Then we provide specific policy ideas how to

• Prepare the DFC and other US agencies to support nuclear projects.
• Remove the nuclear bans at World Bank and other development agencies to allow them to engage on the technology and eventually finance projects.

Our objective is to unlock financing for nuclear power so a wider range of countries have access to firm, clean energy sources to power their economies and create jobs.