Policy Recommendations for Tripling Global Nuclear Capacity

Achieving national nuclear energy ambitions and contributing to the global goal of tripling nuclear capacity by 2050 (compared with 2020 capacity) will require action across policy, finance, regulation, industrial delivery, fuel supply, workforce development and public engagement. The recommendations below describe how to overcome common barriers to deployment and recommend actions for governments, regulators, industry, financial institutions and international organizations to help meet the tripling goal.

Energy and Sustainable Economic Development Policy

Governments can create national and international policy frameworks that specifically recognize nuclear's contribution to energy security, sustainability and socio-economic growth.

1. Articulating long-term national commitment to nuclear energy

Clear articulation of the strategic importance of nuclear energy within long-term national energy policy, and its role in contributing to national energy, industrial, economic and social development objectives will strengthen alignment between energy system planning and industrial capability development.

Multi-decade deployment pipelines will provide confidence for long-term investment, enabling the nuclear industry to scale capabilities, reduce costs, and deliver projects more efficiently.

2. Recognizing nuclear’s contribution to energy security

To ensure long-term resilience of the energy system, the transition to a clean and sustainable low-carbon economy will require a diversified energy mix providing security of supply, dispatchable power and critical infrastructure resilience. Nuclear energy’s contribution to achieving these goals should be recognized in energy and industrial policies.

3. Supporting nuclear energy in international frameworks, including those addressing climate change

Governments and international organizations can help ensure that countries choosing to use nuclear energy have access to relevant policy support, financing mechanisms, technical cooperation and capacity-building initiatives by explicitly articulating the strategic importance of nuclear energy within international policy, regulations and standards. World Nuclear Association also recommends that, where governments pursue harmonization of different national climate and environmental regulations, these harmonized regulations recognize the value of nuclear energy.

Financing and Market Design

Governments and the nuclear industry should work together to create a favourable investment environment for nuclear energy as a strategic national asset.

1. Minimizing political risk through long-term policy commitment

Consistent policy frameworks that provide clear, long-term assurances of a government’s commitment to nuclear power are essential to reducing risk and attracting nuclear investment. Such commitments will help lower financing costs and encourage private sector participation.

2. Establishing financing frameworks with appropriate risk sharing

To enable the large upfront capital investment required for nuclear projects, funding mechanisms should be established that allocate risk appropriately between public and private actors, taking into account the long-term benefits to both. Such frameworks should help close financing gaps and reflect the long-term economic and societal benefits of nuclear infrastructure.

3. Designing energy and electricity markets to reflect nuclear system value and support long-term investment and capacity value

Electricity markets should be reformed to recognize the system costs associated with each generation technology and enable nuclear to compete on equal terms. This should include mechanisms to reward low-carbon generation, reliability, system services, and long-term capacity contributions and provide stable long-term revenue signals. This will support investment decisions and enable sustained deployment.

4. Mobilizing a full range of public, private and multilateral financial institutions to support nuclear deployment

Ensuring availability of financing and facilitating risk assessment processes will encourage nuclear investment, particularly in nuclear newcomer countries. Multilateral development banks can provide catalytic investment that attracts private capital.

Governments, through their role in setting the lending policies of multilateral development banks, can ensure that those financial institutions provide assessment and due diligence services that facilitate private investment in nuclear energy.

Given their mandate, multilateral development banks could also consider establishing dedicated technical assistance programmes, offering grant-based financing for institutional capacity building – particularly the preparation of regulatory frameworks, staff training, and public education on the benefits of nuclear energy in nuclear newcomer countries.

Multilateral development banks could also complement government guarantees to reduce risk and enable broader participation, for example by underwriting those guarantees.

Export credit institutions are able to help reduce the financing risk and cost of nuclear projects, particularly where equipment, technology or services are supplied internationally. They can provide or guarantee long-term debt, cover political and sovereign risks, and support repayment periods better aligned with the long construction and operating life of nuclear plants. This can improve lender confidence, lower interest costs and help attract additional commercial finance.

5. Including nuclear energy in climate and sustainable finance frameworks

Recognizing nuclear energy’s low-carbon and sustainability credentials in sustainable finance frameworks will help enable access to green finance. Some governments and nuclear utilities have issued green bonds for investment for nuclear energy.

Climate and sustainable finance frameworks must fully recognize the long-term sustainable attributes of nuclear energy. This will enable stronger cooperation between the industry and financial institutions and unlock access to green and sustainable finance.

Regulation and Permitting

World Nuclear Association recommends optimizing the regulatory process, particularly where reactors are being deployed in multiple jurisdictions, and ensuring that regulators have the mandate and resources to carry out their duties in a timely manner.

1. Streamlining the regulatory process across jurisdictions

Greater coordination between regulatory frameworks should be pursued to streamline the review and approval of reactor designs across jurisdictions. More efficient regulatory processes can reduce unnecessary duplication and accelerate deployment while maintaining high standards of nuclear safety.

A coordinated approach to nuclear infrastructure development, licensing and permitting can optimize the use of regulatory resources, shorten project timelines and lower costs without compromising safety. These efforts can draw on the experience of countries that have successfully deployed standardized reactor designs across multiple sites, using repeatable licensing approaches to improve efficiency and reduce both approval times and costs.

2. Adopting risk-informed and proportionate regulatory approaches

Application of regulatory frameworks should be proportionate to safety risks, to avoid inefficiencies and unnecessary costs that would otherwise divert resources away from safety-significant issues.

The risk calculation should also take account of the benefits of nuclear technology to society, including the avoidance of external risks posed by technologies that would otherwise be deployed in its place.

By adopting technology-neutral, risk-informed, and goal-oriented approaches, regulators can focus on safety-significant risks and ensure proportionate application of principles such as ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) or ALARP (as low as reasonably practicable).

3. Pursuing international cooperation to leverage existing regulatory assessment and approvals

Optimizing design review processes across jurisdictions will reduce delays, lower costs, and increase efficiency in nuclear deployment.

World Nuclear Association recommends improved cooperation between national and international regulatory agencies, for example by carrying out joint reviews or maximizing the use of design review work already undertaken by credible international counterparts. Design changes should be limited to site-specific requirements to preserve standardization.

4. Streamlining and coordinating regulatory approaches to nuclear infrastructure development and permitting

Nuclear development often involves multiple national regulatory bodies, covering planning, safety and environmental requirements.

Governments can promote a coordinated regulatory approach to facilitate a streamlined decision-making process for nuclear development, licensing and permitting that will allow for lowering the cost of nuclear without impacting safety.

Optimizing the Use of Existing Reactors

Maximizing the contribution of existing nuclear capacity through lifetime extension, uprates, reactor restarts and proportionate regulation.

1. Extending operations and uprating existing capacity

Many currently operable reactors could deliver additional generation through capacity uprates and through extending planned operating lifetimes. Such measures represent the most cost-effective forms of additional low-carbon generation.

2. Supporting the restart of reactors

Restarting reactors that have closed before the end of their technically achievable operating lives because of policy decisions, market conditions or other non-technical factors will help to maximize secure, low-carbon generation.

Collaboration between governments, institutional investors and the nuclear industry can support the engineering and associated works required to restart such reactors.

3. Ensuring regulatory proportionality is applied to long-term operation

Regulating the lifetime extension of existing nuclear reactors requires a balance between safety oversight and the efficient use of existing low-carbon assets. Regulatory proportionality ensures that the administrative burden on operators reflects the actual level of risk, enabling plants to safely extend operation.

Nuclear Technology Development and Deployment

Accelerating nuclear deployment through proven reactor designs, innovative SMRs and wider decarbonization applications

1. Utilizing commercially available nuclear reactor designs to accelerate near-term deployment

There is an urgent need to scale nuclear capacity if countries are to meet rising electricity demand, strengthen energy security and achieve deep decarbonization. While advanced and emerging reactor technologies will play an important role in the mid- to long-term, commercially available reactor designs offer the most immediate pathway for deploying new nuclear capacity at scale.

Proven large reactor technologies already have operating experience, established supply chains, mature licensing bases and a track record of delivering substantial volumes of reliable, low-carbon electricity. Prioritizing the deployment of these designs can reduce technology risk, support more predictable project development and enable countries to move more quickly from policy ambition to construction and operation.

By deploying proven technologies now, countries can add significant clean firm capacity while also building the regulatory, workforce, supply chain and project management capabilities needed to support future reactor technologies.

2. Accelerating SMR deployment

Small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced nuclear technologies offer the potential to simplify project delivery, reduce capital requirements per unit, and support more investable nuclear deployment models. Their smaller unit size, modular construction and potential for factory manufacture could enable greater standardization, shorter construction schedules, and more flexible financing structures.

Many SMR and advanced reactor designs still require further development, licensing, demonstration and first-of-a-kind deployment before these potential benefits can be fully realized. Governments can help accelerate the transition from development to deployment through targeted R&D support, licensing reform, public–private partnerships, and funding mechanisms that support demonstration and early projects.

3. Expanding the role of SMRs and advanced nuclear technologies in wider decarbonization applications

Nuclear technologies can be used for many applications beyond grid electricity production, such as industrial heat supply, district heating, desalination, sustainable synthetic fuel production, marine transport, remote grids - including remote coastal sites - and off-grid energy supply. SMRs and advanced nuclear technologies will further expand the opportunities to meet these needs.

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments support the inclusion of non-power and wider decarbonization applications in demonstration and first-of-a-kind projects, including through public-private partnerships, targeted funding, and policy frameworks that recognize the value of nuclear energy across hard-to-abate sectors.

Uranium and Fuel Supply

Securing resilient nuclear fuel supply chains, from uranium resources and front end services to advanced fuel development.

1. Supporting uranium exploration and resource development

Future nuclear expansion will require significantly increased uranium supply. If uranium exploration and mine development do not expand this could create supply constraints. Availability of supply depends on timely investment and project execution, given the long lead times required for the development of uranium mines.

To ensure a resilient fuel supply chain aligned with future nuclear expansion, it would be helpful to set clear targets and timelines for uranium exploration and resource development.

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments support uranium exploration and development programmes to secure long-term supply. This will ensure availability of resources to meet future demand in a timely manner.  In addition, regulatory authorities should ensure timely completion of the licensing and permitting processes where mines are being developed.

2. Expanding front end fuel cycle capacity and resilience

Tripling nuclear capacity will require major expansion of fuel cycle services, including conversion, enrichment, and fabrication. Without early action, bottlenecks may emerge, where there is insufficient fuel cycle capacity to meet the needs of the additional generation capacity projected in this report.

Governments and the industry could collaborate to set targets for increasing global conversion and enrichment capacity to ensure progress and adaptability. Geographic diversification could enhance the resilience of the supply of fuel cycle services.

World Nuclear Association recommends governments support the industry in making early investment decisions to expand fuel cycle services capacity to ensure the continuity and stability of nuclear fuel supply.

3. Accelerate development of fuels for advanced technologies and SMRs

Innovative fuel designs can improve reactor performance, safety margins and fuel cycle economics. Higher burnup fuels, longer fuel cycles, accident-tolerant fuel concepts, new cladding materials and advanced fuel compositions may support improved reliability and more efficient operation of both existing reactors and future designs. Many advanced SMR designs involve the use of new fuel types, including higher burnup and higher enrichment (LEU+ and HALEU, high assay low-enriched uranium).

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments, regulators and the industry support qualification, testing and licensing pathways for innovative fuel designs, while ensuring that fuel innovation is aligned with reactor deployment plans and fuel cycle infrastructure. World Nuclear Association also recommends that governments work with the industry on the development and deployment of new fuels and required fuel cycle facilities, to produce and manufacture these fuels to ensure their timely availability, as well as considering the entire fuel cycle, including recycling or used fuel management.

Reprocessing and Recycling

Adopting a policy of reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel can promote adoption of the circular economy, would make more efficient use of nuclear resources, enhance fuel security and reduce waste volumes. For those governments that have a policy of reprocessing used nuclear fuel, the following actions will enhance its deployment.

1. Establishing long-term policy support for reprocessing and recycling

Where chosen, reprocessing and recycling should be supported consistently by policy frameworks. World Nuclear Association recommends that governments establish clear, long-term policy support for these activities that promotes integrated planning across reactor types. This will enable better use of existing fuel and support future technologies, improve uranium utilization and reduce waste volumes and radiotoxicity.

2. Providing predictable regulatory pathways for advanced fuel cycles

Regulatory certainty can accelerate the development of advanced reprocessing technologies. This removes barriers to innovation and deployment.

World Nuclear Association recommends that regulatory frameworks provide predictable and streamlined licensing pathways. This will support development of advanced fuel cycle technologies.

Waste Management, Disposal and Decommissioning

Establishing comprehensive, integrated and, where appropriate, multinational solutions for long-term radioactive waste and used fuel management.

1. Establish comprehensive long-term waste management plans

Effective waste management is essential for public acceptance and long-term sustainability.

The preparation and adoption of long-term management strategies will help ensure adequate funds are accumulated during plant operating lifetimes. These should address all waste streams from operation and decommissioning, including management and disposal of high-level radioactive waste and used fuel not selected for recycling/reprocessing . World Nuclear Association also recommends that integrated approaches covering storage, transport, disposal, and recycling options be adopted. This will ensure a coherent and sustainable waste strategy.

2. Considering multinational shared infrastructure facility solutions

Some countries may lack the scale or resources to develop national repositories and associated fuel cycle facilities independently. This can significantly delay progress on long-term disposal solutions.

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments consider multinational and regional infrastructure solutions, including shared reprocessing and recycling services, multinational interim storage facilities, regional or multinational deep geological repositories (DGRs) and other disposal concepts.

Such shared approaches can provide more efficient, cost-effective, and secure solutions for long-term waste management. They enable economies of scale, reduce the number of disposal sites, enhance safety and security, and are particularly beneficial for countries with small or new nuclear programmes, as well as for managing waste from SMRs and advanced reactors.

Increasing the Capability and Capacity of the Nuclear Supply Chain

Strengthen and diversify global nuclear supply chains to enable efficient, timely and scalable deployment.

1. Strengthening and expanding nuclear supply chain capabilities

Ensuring sufficient supply chain capacity and relevant engineering, construction and manufacturing capabilities will facilitate the timely deployment of nuclear projects at the scale required to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, by removing gaps in skilled labour, component manufacturing, and qualified suppliers.

By working together, governments and the industry can provide long-term procurement pipelines that function as credible investment signals for suppliers to ensure timely delivery of critical systems.

2. Aligning procurement requirements and standards

Different national procurement requirements, codes and standards for nuclear equipment create inefficiencies, increase costs and limit the scalability of nuclear technologies across markets. These differences can lead to duplication in design, testing and certification.

Regulators, the nuclear industry and standards development organizations can address this by working together to align and mutually recognize codes and standards where possible. Strengthening international collaboration can promote standardization of procurement requirements and enable a more efficient global supply chain.

3. Leveraging the capabilities, best practices and products from other sectors

Adoption of proven technologies from other sectors could help broaden supplier participation, lower costs, and reduce project timelines, particularly where equivalent industrial-grade components meet performance and safety requirements.

Adopting risk-informed, performance-based approaches will allow for the use of suitably qualified industrial-grade equipment. Clear guidance and harmonized qualification processes should be developed to ensure safety is maintained while broadening the supplier base and improving project efficiency.

Industrial Policy and Programme Delivery

Integrate nuclear deployment into industrial strategies and adopt coordinated, programmatic delivery models to strengthen economic benefits, reduce costs and accelerate fleet deployment.

1. Enhancing industrial and socio-economic development

Nuclear power projects are major infrastructure investments that can contribute to regional economic development, high-value employment, industrial capability and long-term social value. World Nuclear Association recommends that governments integrate nuclear deployment into wider industrial strategies, including local and regional supply chain development, workforce planning, infrastructure investment and export opportunities.

2. Adopting a programmatic approach to project delivery

A programmatic approach that leverages a fleet approach, the project team, experience and lessons learned, standardized designs and industrial deployment strategies would improve efficiency, reduce costs and accelerate delivery.

3. Ensuring efficient project execution and delivery model

Nuclear programmes and projects are major infrastructure endeavours involving numerous organizations, with contracting models that allocate and share risks throughout the supply chain. Governments, project owners, vendors and supply chain partners can help accelerate these programmes by establishing clear delivery models before project commitment, including defined roles, accountabilities and decision-making processes.

World Nuclear Association recommends that project owners develop strong programme management capability, adopt proven designs where possible, use realistic schedules and cost estimates, and ensure that contracts incentivize collaboration rather than adversarial risk transfer. Early supply chain engagement, workforce planning, and lessons learned from previous nuclear and major infrastructure projects should be embedded from the outset.

4. Exploring options for collaboration to accelerate nuclear fleet deployment

World Nuclear Association recommends that developers and other stakeholders – including the nuclear industry, international and regional organizations – increase international collaboration to share lessons learned and coordinate actions to mutually accelerate deployment. 

This can include programmatic procurement and sharing good practice for multiple nuclear deployment to accelerate bringing units online, reduce costs and optimize supply chain and workforce mobility.

Workforce and Skills Development

Building a future-ready nuclear workforce will require long-term programme certainty, integrated workforce planning, expanded training and education, skills mobility, retraining and developing an early-career talent pipeline.

1. Providing long-term clarity that gives employers the confidence to invest

Greater certainty around future nuclear programmes will encourage workforce investment and development.

Governments should establish clear, credible and long-term project pipelines that give the industry the confidence to invest in workforce development at scale and build a future-ready workforce.

2. Integrating workforce planning into nuclear project delivery

A shortage of skilled workers would represent a major constraint on nuclear deployment. Workforce readiness should therefore be treated as a core part of nuclear programme and project delivery, rather than as a separate education or human resources issue.

Governments and project developers should integrate workforce planning into nuclear programmes from their earliest stages and maintain it throughout project delivery. National nuclear roadmaps should identify the skills and capabilities that will be required at each stage of delivery, including policy development, licensing, construction, commissioning, operations, the fuel cycle, regulation and decommissioning.

3. Transferring international expertise

Governments and the industry should develop international recruitment and skills-mobility arrangements that allow experienced personnel to support nuclear programmes where their expertise is needed. International recruitment will provide lasting benefits only where imported expertise is used to strengthen domestic capabilities.

Nuclear programmes should include structured arrangements through which internationally recruited personnel transfer their knowledge and experience to the local workforce.

Regional centres linking industry, academia and training providers will support coordinated skills development and innovation, improving effectiveness and knowledge sharing.

4. Creating transfer and retraining pathways from adjacent sectors

The nuclear sector will need to attract experienced workers from related industries, including defence, oil and gas, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, major infrastructure, digital and cybersecurity.

Transferable skills should be supported by structured nuclear conversion pathways covering nuclear safety culture, regulatory expectations and quality requirements.

5. Strengthening nuclear education outreach

In many regions, the nuclear sector faces a shortage of young people entering the workforce, including a decline in the number of students choosing nuclear-related degrees. This is intensified by increased competition for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) talent.

Governments, industry and educational institutions should develop systematic and sustained nuclear education outreach programmes that build awareness of nuclear science, technology and career opportunities among young people.

Effective outreach requires specialist skills and an understanding of how to communicate with different groups of young people. Nuclear organizations should provide thematic training and practical support for the professionals responsible for designing and delivering youth engagement activities.

Public Confidence and Engagement

Building public confidence through inclusive stakeholder engagement, balanced understanding, meaningful participation and accessible information.

1. Build understanding of nuclear energy’s benefits and risks

Public discussion of nuclear energy can focus disproportionately on individual risks without providing sufficient information on its potential benefits or comparison with alternative energy options. This can prevent stakeholders from forming a balanced understanding of the choices involved.

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments, industry and independent institutions provide clear, evidence-based and accessible information on both the benefits and risks of nuclear energy. Communications should place nuclear energy within the wider energy-system and industrial-policy context, enabling informed consideration of the full range of impacts and opportunities.

2. Undertake comprehensive stakeholder mapping

Effective engagement begins with a clear understanding of the individuals, communities and organizations that may be affected by, interested in, or able to influence nuclear energy policies and projects.

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments and project developers undertake stakeholder mapping at the earliest stages of programme and project development. This should identify local communities, elected representatives, civil society organizations, businesses, trade unions, educational institutions, indigenous peoples where applicable, and other relevant groups. Stakeholder mapping should be regularly updated as projects develop and should inform tailored, inclusive and sustained engagement strategies.

3. Enabling meaningful community participation

Community engagement should extend beyond the provision of information or consultation after major decisions have already been taken. Communities are more likely to have confidence in nuclear projects where they have meaningful opportunities to influence decisions that affect them.

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments and project developers establish participatory engagement processes from the earliest stages of site selection, policy development and project planning. Communities should be given clear opportunities to express their priorities. Engagement should be continuous before construction as well as throughout construction, operation and decommissioning, with clear explanations of how community input has influenced decisions.

4. Improving access to information

Access to reliable and clear information can contribute to overcoming misconceptions and increasing confidence in nuclear energy.

World Nuclear Association recommends that governments integrate nuclear energy information and education into wider energy, skills and industrial strategies. This should clearly communicate the full opportunity associated with nuclear development, including employment, supply-chain participation, regional investment, research, innovation and applications beyond electricity generation.