AI, Energy, and the Nuclear Reformation

For years, the success of the green transition has depended on a fragile consensus: that the costs of clean energy are worth it, compared to the chaos of climate change. But that consensus is under pressure. Rising energy costs, job migration, and political shifts are all pushing back.

Read the full article: From Renaissance to Reformation; Can Nuclear Save the Green Energy Movement?

About the author:

• Belton T. Zeigler

Transcript

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Welcome to Womble Perspectives. Today we’re diving into a topic that sits at the crossroads of technology, energy, and aspiration.

Let’s start with a bit of history.

The steam engine. The assembly line. The internet. These weren’t just inventions—they were revolutions. Each one transformed our economic systems by making goods cheaper or more abundant. They were driven by innovation, yes—but more importantly, by economic necessity.

Now, contrast that with the green energy transition.

This movement isn’t powered by economics. It’s powered by aspiration—the aspiration to stabilize our climate and avoid the worst disruptions of a warming world. And while that aspiration is noble, it’s also the green transition’s greatest vulnerability.

Because unlike past revolutions, this one doesn’t offer an immediate economic payoff. It relies on government incentives and penalties to suppress the use of cheap, abundant fossil fuels in favor of more expensive, non-emitting alternatives. And that means it’s always swimming upstream—against the current of market forces.

For years, the success of the green transition has depended on a fragile consensus: that the costs of clean energy are worth it, compared to the chaos of climate change. But that consensus is under pressure. Rising energy costs, job migration, and political shifts are all pushing back.

In the U.S., we’re already seeing this play out. States that haven’t mandated expensive renewable portfolios or blocked natural gas pipelines are now leading in economic growth. And as global tensions rise, the idea of sacrificing economic competitiveness for climate goals is becoming harder to sell.

But just as the green transition faces these headwinds, a new force has entered the scene—one that’s turning the energy economy on its head.

That force is artificial intelligence.

AI is the next great economic transformation. It’s doing for information what the steam engine did for labor—turning energy into intelligence. Tasks that once took teams of analysts weeks or months can now be done in seconds. The economic value is staggering.

But so is the energy demand.

A single AI data center can consume as much electricity as the largest power plant on a utility’s grid. Utilities that once raced to serve new businesses are now rationing capacity, delaying commitments, and demanding massive upfront deposits just to keep up.

And here’s the problem: green energy can’t keep pace.

Solar and wind are simply too land-intensive and too intermittent. To power just one 1,000-megawatt data center, you’d need a solar farm the size of Manhattan—two and a half times over. And when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow, you’re out of luck. Battery backups?

They’d cost billions

So what’s the solution?

In the short term, it’s natural gas. That’s what hyperscalers—those massive tech companies building AI infrastructure—are turning to. But in the long term, there’s only one scalable, non-emitting technology that can meet AI’s 24/7 energy needs: nuclear.

Nuclear power is the only option that can support the data center boom without sinking the clean energy transition. But to make that happen, we need more than a renaissance. We need a reformation.

That reformation must begin with licensing and permitting reform. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must streamline its processes, focus on safety-critical issues, and allow flexibility during construction.

Next, we need to rebuild the supply chain. Decades of dormancy have left us without the manufacturing base, workforce, or quality assurance systems needed to build nuclear at scale.

We also need technological innovation—factory-built small modular reactors, or SMRs, that are safer, cheaper, and faster to deploy.

And we must learn from past failures. Projects like Vogtle and V.C. Summer were plagued by poor project management. We need modular construction techniques, nuclear-specific expertise, and rigorous cost controls—just like we use in building naval vessels.

But even with all that, we won’t succeed without public acceptance. We need a new narrative—one that highlights nuclear’s remarkable safety record and its essential role in a clean energy future. Community engagement, transparency, and successful early deployments will be key.

Finally, we need to align financial structures. Nuclear requires patient capital and regulatory frameworks that support long-term investment.

If we can do all this—if we can reform, rebuild, and reimagine nuclear—we can meet the exploding energy demands of AI while keeping our climate goals within reach.

Because at this moment in history, only nuclear can do both.

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