People who support nuclear energy say that it is a safe and sustainable source of power. It helps reduce carbon emissions and improves energy security by reducing reliance on energy that comes from other countries.

Context

Nuclear energy is a topic that people disagree about. The discussion about nuclear power was most discussed during the 1970s and 1980s, when it became one of the most intense debates in the history of technology in some countries.

Supporters of nuclear energy say that nuclear power creates very little air pollution, greenhouse gases, or smog compared to energy from fossil fuels. They also say that the dangers of storing nuclear waste are often overestimated. Supporters note that nuclear power plants in the Western world have a strong safety record compared to other major types of power plants. Many people have supported nuclear energy over time, including scientists like Georges Charpak, Glenn T. Seaborg, Edward Teller, Alvin M. Weinberg, Eugene Wigner, Ted Taylor, and Jeff Eerkens. Other scientists, such as Robert B. Laughlin, Michael McElroy, and Vaclav Smil, have written about nuclear energy's role in the larger energy system. In particular, Laughlin wrote in his book Powering the Future (2011) that using more nuclear power will likely become necessary, either because governments choose to leave fossil fuels unused or because fossil fuels run out.

Lobbying and public relations activities

Many companies around the world are involved in the nuclear industry, such as Areva, BHP, Cameco, China National Nuclear Corporation, EDF, Iberdrola, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Ontario Power Generation, Rosatom, Tokyo Electric Power Company, and Vattenfall. These companies try to influence politicians and others by discussing nuclear power expansion, organizing public relations efforts, asking government officials for support, and shaping public policy through voter campaigns and involvement in elections.

The nuclear industry has used different methods to encourage people to support nuclear power. This includes creating "fact sheets" that address public concerns. Supporters of nuclear power have also promoted newer, safer reactor designs. These designs include ones with passive safety features and Small Modular Reactors.

Since 2000, the nuclear industry has run a global campaign through media and lobbying to promote nuclear power as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. While nuclear reactors themselves do not produce carbon dioxide, other parts of the nuclear process—like uranium mining, decommissioning reactors, and managing radioactive waste—use fossil fuels and release carbon dioxide.

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has created several groups to support nuclear power. These include the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., which was formed in 2006 and led by Patrick Moore. Christine Todd Whitman, a former leader of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), has also participated. Another group supported by the NEI is Clean Energy America.

In Britain, James Lovelock, known for his Gaia Hypothesis, began supporting nuclear power in 2004. He is a supporter of the Supporters of Nuclear Energy (SONE). SONE also acknowledges that using electricity from unreliable or low-power energy sources can create technical challenges. The main nuclear advocacy group in Britain is FORATOM.

As of 2014, the U.S. nuclear industry started a new lobbying effort. It hired three former U.S. senators—Evan Bayh (Democrat), Judd Gregg (Republican), and Spencer Abraham (Republican)—as well as William M. Daley, a former assistant to President Obama. This effort is called Nuclear Matters, and it has begun advertising in newspapers.

Organizations supporting nuclear power

In March 2017, a group of eight senators from both major political parties introduced S. 512, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA). This bill aimed to update the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), support the growth of the nuclear industry, and create rules to license new types of nuclear reactors. It also sought to improve how uranium is regulated. Thirty-six organizations, including businesses, non-profits, and schools, supported the bill. Some of the most well-known supporters include:

• The Alvin Weinberg Foundation
• American Nuclear Society (ANS)
• Battelle Memorial Institute
• Breakthrough Institute
• Canadian Nuclear Society
• Canadian Nuclear Association
• Center for Strategic and International Studies
• ClearPath Foundation
• Earth Institute
• Ecomodernists
• Environmentalists for Nuclear
• Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy Australia
• European Atomic Forum
• Generation Atomic
• International Nuclear Societies Council (representing 36 nuclear groups worldwide)
• Long Now Foundation
• The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI, the main group that represents U.S. nuclear companies)
• Nuclear Institute (formerly the British Nuclear Energy Society and the Institution of Nuclear Engineers, representing nuclear professionals in the U.K.)
• Nuclear New York
• Third Way
• Thorium Energy Alliance (a group that studies and promotes new reactor designs)
• The World Nuclear Association (a global organization for nuclear energy)

In 2023, nuclear power plants in the United States produced about 19% of the country’s electricity. When combined with electricity from renewable sources, nuclear energy provided nearly half of all clean electricity generated in the U.S. Studies show that closing a nuclear power plant leads to much higher carbon emissions, as coal or natural gas must replace the energy lost. Despite long-term protests, safety in the nuclear industry has improved, making nuclear power the safest energy source today. Nuclear power plants create thousands of jobs, often in health and safety roles. They rarely face protests because they bring economic benefits, attract skilled workers, and avoid air pollution, unlike oil, coal, or gas plants, which harm workers and nearby communities.

Nuclear engineers have traditionally worked in the nuclear industry, in schools, or for national labs. Recently, younger engineers have started new companies to use nuclear energy to solve climate problems. In 2015, a report by Third Way found 48 nuclear startups or projects focused on new reactor designs. Current research focuses on creating cost-effective, secure reactors with safety features that work automatically. Government labs study the same areas as industry but also examine other topics, such as nuclear fuels, reactor designs, and nuclear weapons. The Navy Nuclear Power Program is a main source of trained workers for U.S. nuclear reactors. From 2012 to 2022, the job outlook for nuclear engineers is expected to grow by 9% due to retiring engineers, the need to update safety systems, and advances in nuclear medicine.

Individuals supporting nuclear power

A practical need for a safe and reliable energy supply is a major reason why many people support nuclear energy. Many individuals, including some who once opposed nuclear energy, now believe it is important for reducing carbon emissions. They understand that the dangers of climate change are much greater than the risks linked to nuclear energy. Many supporters of nuclear energy, though not all, agree that renewable energy is also important for reducing emissions. Some early environmentalists who publicly supported nuclear power include James Lovelock, who created the Gaia hypothesis; Patrick Moore, a former Greenpeace member and president of Greenpeace Canada; George Monbiot; and Stewart Brand, who started the Whole Earth Catalog. Lovelock argues that nuclear energy and its waste are not as dangerous as people believe. In a 2008 interview, Moore said that after leaving Greenpeace and learning more about climate change, he changed his mind about nuclear energy and realized his earlier views were incorrect. More scientists and non-scientists who care about the environment now believe nuclear power can help fight climate change, even though this view differs from the traditional environmental stance that rejects nuclear energy (some call these people "Nuclear Greens" or "Ecomodernists").

Other experts and professionals, concerned about how media reports exaggerated the dangers of nuclear accidents, formed a group called Scientists for Accurate Radiation Information (SARI). This group was created after a tsunami in Japan in 2011 caused a nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi. People living nearby were unnecessarily moved and suffered psychological stress from false fears. This unnecessary harm, called the "nocebo" effect, happens when people believe something is dangerous, even if it is not, leading to negative health effects.

People who have publicly supported nuclear power include:

• Hans Blix, former director of the IAEA
• Ben Britton, deputy director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering, Imperial College London
• Ken Caldeira, Stanford University
• Georges Charpak, Polish-born French physicist
• Stephen Chu, former U.S. Secretary of Energy and former head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Kerry Emanuel, professor of atmospheric science at MIT
• Ian Fells
• Martin Freer, head of physics and astronomy at the University of Birmingham and director of the Birmingham Energy Institute
• Richard Garwin, American physicist
• James Hansen, director of the Climate Science, Awareness, and Solutions Program at Columbia University
• David Keith
• James Lovelock
• Jessica Lovering, co-founder of the Good Energy Collective and senior fellow at the Nuclear Innovation Alliance
• David J. C. MacKay, former chief scientific advisor for the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (died 2016)
• Michael McElroy
• Richard Muller, professor of physics at UC Berkeley and co-founder of Berkeley Earth
• Ernest Moniz, former U.S. Secretary of Energy
• Peter H. Raven, former president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and winner of the National Medal of Science in 2001
• Carlo Rubbia, Nobel Prize winner in physics
• Grace Stanke, Miss America 2023, nuclear engineer, and advocate for nuclear power
• Tom Wigley, climate scientist at the University of Adelaide

The following is a list of people who signed the open letter:

Future prospects

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), located in France, is the largest and most advanced experimental nuclear fusion reactor in the world. This project involves collaboration between the European Union (EU), India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. Its goal is to move from studying plasma physics to building power plants that produce electricity through nuclear fusion. However, the World Nuclear Association states that nuclear fusion faces very difficult scientific and engineering challenges. Construction of the ITER facility began in 2007, but the project has faced many delays and higher costs than planned. The facility is now expected to start operations in 2027, which is 11 years later than originally planned.

Another nuclear power program is the Energy Impact Center's OPEN100 project. OPEN100 was launched in 2020 and has shared open-source designs for a nuclear power plant with a 100-megawatt pressurized water reactor. The project aims to reduce the cost and time needed to build nuclear power plants, which could help increase the supply of nuclear energy and potentially address the effects of climate change.