The U.S. nuclear industry is adding capacity to the grid through a wave of reactor restarts and power uprates, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute's State of the Nuclear Industry assessment for 2026. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the restart of Holtec's Palisades plant in Michigan, the first such restart in U.S. history, with the unit slated to return to service this year.
More restarts are in the pipeline. Constellation's Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania is set to return in 2027, followed by Duane Arnold in 2029. Utilities are also pursuing license renewals at 20 plants and power uprates at 29 units, with roughly 30 uprates planned through 2030.
Regulators are streamlining oversight to match the activity. Changes to the Reactor Oversight Process will cut baseline inspection hours by about 40 percent while accelerating approvals, and the NRC issued more flexible frameworks in spring 2026 suited to advanced reactor designs and higher-volume deployment.
The combined push reflects rising electricity demand from data centers and electrification, which has renewed interest in extending the life and output of the existing reactor fleet while new builds advance.
Source: Nuclear Energy Institute - https://www.nei.org/news/state-of-the-nuclear-industry-2026