Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative Commentary & Analysis

Energy security is only achievable through global partnerships

By Elena Benaim, Paddy Ryan

The Atlantic Council’s flagship Global Energy Forum concluded its programming in Washington, DC, today. What emerged as a central theme throughout was the undeniable need for any single country to engage in international partnerships to achieve energy and national security, whether speakers were discussing divergent transatlantic views, nuclear power, or critical mineral supply chains.

Why the World Bank just gave nuclear power a surprising boost

On June 11, the US-based international development bank lifted its longstanding ban on funding nuclear energy projects.

MDBs must finance nuclear power—or Russia and China will

By Juzel Lloyd

The growing influence of Russia and China in global nuclear energy financing threatens to reshape the future of energy geopolitics. To address this, multilateral development banks must recognize nuclear energy as a vital tool for expanding energy access, and modernize outdated policies to support deployment.

What Trump’s new executive orders mean for the US nuclear energy industry

By Jennifer T. Gordon

The US president signed four executive orders on May 23 intended to usher in an “American nuclear renaissance.”

The United States’ role in managing the nuclear fuel cycle

By Kemal Pasamehmetoglu

Global nuclear energy generation is likely to increase significantly in the next few decades. This expansion provides an opportunity for the United States to shape the global nuclear energy landscape and set a high bar for standards of safety, security, and nonproliferation for the nuclear fuel cycle.

Building a path toward global deployment of fusion: Nonproliferation and export considerations

By Sachin Desai, Michael Hua, Amy Roma, Jessica Bufford, Jacqueline Siebens, Andrew Proffitt

With commercial fusion on the horizon, questions around the process for regulating fusion power plants have arisen.

Atoms for Appalachia: The role of nuclear energy in economic development

By Lauren Hughes

Advanced nuclear technologies can drive economic security and energy security within Appalachian states.

The 2025 Global Energy Agenda

By Landon Derentz, Christine Suh, Paul Kielstra, Bailee Mathews (Editors)

The Atlantic Council is pleased to present its fifth Global Energy Agenda. As in prior years, this collection of essays is complemented by our in-depth analysis of the results of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center’s annual global energy survey. 

Global Energy Agenda full survey results

In the fall of 2024, the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center surveyed global energy and climate experts to take the community’s pulse on the outlook for geopolitical energy risks, a global energy market in transition, and prospects for the net-zero imperative.