Today's 94 licensed nuclear power reactors operating in the United States generate almost 20 percent of the nation's electricity, according to Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO Maria Korsnick, speaking at the annual Nuclear Energy Policy Forum. Korsnick said 90 nuclear projects are currently in development across North America, with 8 already breaking ground and many aiming to start construction by 2030.

Utility members surveyed by NEI reported pursuing license renewals at 20 plants and power uprates at 29 units, with 23.4 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity planned over the next 15 years. NEI also pointed to several restart projects for previously shut down plants: Holtec's Palisades plant in Michigan is scheduled to come back online later this year following the first ever NRC approval of a reactor restart, Constellation's Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania is set to restart in 2027, and Duane Arnold in Iowa is expected to follow in 2029.

Regulatory reviews have also moved faster. NEI said subsequent license renewal timelines have been cut by more than 50 percent, and the NRC completed its review of TerraPower's Natrium reactor nine months ahead of schedule. Corporate demand is also rising, with large technology companies reporting roughly 40 gigawatts of nuclear power in their combined project pipelines as electricity use from data centers continues to climb.

Source: Nuclear Energy Institute - https://www.nei.org/news/state-of-the-nuclear-industry-2026