United States of America - World Nuclear Outlook Report

Projection of future nuclear capacity in the USA in 2050

The United States has 96 operable reactors, with total capacity of 102 GWe gross, 97 GWe net. Almost all US reactors were built between 1967 and 1990, except for Watts Bar 2, which first started construction in 1973, but then was suspended, before being completed in 2013, and Vogtle 3&4, where construction started in 2013 and the two units were brought online in 2023 and 2024.

In May 2025 President Trump signed a series of executive orders with the aim of increasing US nuclear energy capacity to 400 GWe by 2050, with 5 GWe of power uprates and 10 large reactors under construction by 2030.

The Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base executive order aims to strengthen the US fuel cycle, develop transport technologies for nuclear fuel, expand conversion and enrichment capacity, use surplus plutonium in fuel and expand the nuclear energy workforce.

The Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy executive order aims to expedite the deployment of advanced reactors at the department’s facilities and establish a pilot programme for reactor construction outside of national laboratories, with the goal of three reactors reaching criticality by July 2026.

In pursuit of the Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy executive order the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced in August 2025 its initial selection of 11 advanced reactor projects for the Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program. The selected companies are: Aalo Atomics; Antares Nuclear; Atomic Alchemy; Deep Fission; Last Energy; Natura Resources; Oklo (selected for two projects); Radiant Industries; Terrestrial Energy; and Valar Atomics.

The Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims to expedite the process of licensing applications and adoption of new technology.

President Trump's goal of 400 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2050 expands upon a goal set by President Biden during the previous administration to triple nuclear capacity by 2050. During the Biden presidency the USA led the 22-country coalition to launch the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050 during the

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering applications for the extension of operating licences to 80 years, with its subsequent licence renewal (SLR) programme. As of March 2025,¹⁸⁰ nearly 50 reactors have either been approved, are under review, or have declared an intent to seek approval:

1. Reactors approved (to 80 years): Turkey Point 3&4, Peach Bottom 2&3, Surry 1&2, North Anna 1&2, Monticello, Virgil C. Summer 1
2. Reactors under review: Point Beach 1&2, Oconee 1-3, St. Lucie 1&2, Browns Ferry 1-3, Dresden 2&3.
3. Reactors expected to apply: H.B. Robinson 2, Edwin I. Hatch 1&2, Duane Arnold, Palisades, Nine Mile Point 1, Ginna, Cooper, Watts Bar 1, Farley 1&2, Prairie Island 1&2, Hope Creek, Salem 1&2, Donald C. Cook 1&2, Millstone 2&3, Three Mile Island 1, plus seven unnamed units

Reactor restarts

Several reactors that had shut down are now in the process of restarting. Constellation plans to restart the 880 MWe reactor at the Crane Clean Energy Centre, previously known as Three Mile Island 1, in 2027. The unit, which commenced operation in 1974, was closed in 2019. Plans to restart the reactor were announced in 2024, when Microsoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation.¹⁸¹

Holtec is pursuing a restart of Palisades, which ceased operation in 2022, having been first grid connected in 1971. The plant resumed operational status in August 2025, with plans to restart the reactor before the end of the year. Holtec intends to apply for a subsequent licence renewal to permit operation of the plant until 2051.¹⁸²

NextEra Energy has told the NRC that it intends to submit an environmental review document for the proposed restart of the 624 MWe Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in October 2025. The plant, which was first grid connected in 1974, was shut down in 2020.¹⁸³

New capacity

Large-scale reactors

The GE Hitachi’s ABWR and ESBWR, Korea’s APR1400 and Westinghouse’s AP1000 have all received US design certification.

In July 2025 Westinghouse announced plans to start the construction of ten new AP1000 reactors in the USA, with construction to start by 2030.¹⁸⁴

In June 2025 Fermi America submitted the first part of its COL application to build four AP1000 reactors in Carson County, Texas. The second part of the COL application was submitted in August. The company aims to put the first reactor in operation in 2032, followed by the others in 2034, 2035 and 2036.

Small-scale reactors

In addition to restarting the shutdown Palisades reactor, Holtec intends to commission the first two of its SMR-300 units at the Palisades site by 2030. The SMR-300 is a PWR with a net capacity 300 MWe. In February 2025 Holtec signed an expanded construction agreement with South Korea's Hyundai E&C.¹⁸⁵

In March 2024, TerraPower submitted a construction permit application for a Natrium reactor at Kemmerer in Lincoln County, Wyoming, near PacifiCorp's Naughton coal-fired plant. The Natrium reactor is based on the GE Hitachi (now GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy) 345 MWe (840 MWt) PRISM sodium-cooled fast reactor coupled with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The Natrium storage technology allows the system's output to be increased to 500 MWe for five-and-a-half hours. A groundbreaking ceremony at the site took place in June 2024 to mark the start of construction of the 'sodium test and fill facility', which will be used to test components for use in the Natrium plant as well as to carry out the initial transfer of sodium to the plant.

Dow (owner of Dow Chemical Company) and reactor company X-energy submitted a construction licence application to the NRC in March 2025 for four 80 MWe Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled small modular reactors at the Long Mott Generating Station in Calhoun County, Texas. The plant would provide process heat and electricity to The Dow Chemical Company's Seadrift Operations site.¹⁸⁶ In addition to electricity, the Xe-100 units would also provide high-temperature steam for industrial processes.¹⁸⁷

The Xe-100 is also intended for deployment at the site of Energy Northwest's Columbia nuclear plant in Washington state. A joint development agreement has been signed between Energy Northwest and X-energy for the deployment of up to 12 Xe-100 units.¹⁸⁸

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) intends to deploy a GE Hitachi BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The NRC accepted for review the construction permit application in July 2025; the review is expected to be completed within 17 months.¹⁸⁹

Oklo plans to build its first Aurora unit at Idaho National Laboratory by early 2028. It selected Kiewit Corporation as the lead constructor in July 2025.Oklo had previously submitted an application to the NRC in March 2020 to build and operate an Aurora compact fast reactor at the INL site. However, in January 2022 the regulator said it had insufficient data for the process to move forward. The company resumed pre-licensing activities with the NRC later that year.

Aalo started ground works on the site of its Aalo-X reactor in August 2025. The unit will be a precursor to the company’s 50 MWe sodium-cooled Aalo-1 reactor. Aalo aims to reach first criticality with the test unit by July 2026, and to deploy the Aalo-1 reactor by 2029.

A power purchase agreement between Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority was signed in August 2025 that would see Kairos Power's Hermes 2 deliver power to the grid for Google's data centres.

ENTRA1 Energy has signed a collaborative agreement with TVA to deploy up to 6 GW of NuScale SMR capacity at sites across TVA’s seven-state service region in south-eastern USA.¹⁹⁰