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The world is currently heading into what could be the busiest decade for nuclear energy growth we’ve seen since the 1970’s – consider that global nuclear generation hit a new all-time-high in 2025 of 2,845 Terawatt hours, more than gross electricity consumption of the entire European Union in 2024.
One could argue this new epoch for nuclear energy kicked off in June of last year, when the World Bank reversed 12 years of policy and lifted a ban on nuclear energy lending.
The World Bank’s decision there was based on its perception electricity is a human right and that climate change remains a threat to human development, so it wanted to allow developing countries in particular the chance to develop their own clean energy solutions, tying in with the well known Net Zero global policy initiative.
And that Net Zero initiative remains hot, even though it mightn’t be the subject of daily headlines anymore except for when COP takes place at the end of each year. Across the last few years, nearly 40 countries have signed international agreementsto ramp up nuclear energy capacity.
And then came the current year. At the 2026 Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris, China and Brazil agreed to triple nuclear energy capacity.
But that hasn’t even been the biggest thing to happen for the nuclear energy sector in 2026 YTD.
The AI & nuclear marriage trade
Across 2026, we’ve seen a new frontier of nuclear demand open up that promises to make urgent across the world the need for nuclear energy development – and the uranium supplies to activate it.
Through 2026, we’ve seen Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data centre investors realise a need for cleaner energy to run these mammoth computer factories.
Disclaimer: Elevate Uranium was a client of HotCopper at the time this article was crafted and published.
That clean energy demand from these players is booming has been evidenced through a series of massive multi-billion-dollar deals already influencing global stocks exposed to the nuclear sector, as well as uranium miners and explorers.
(In fact, this very impetus as already been something of a headache for those policymakers in Australia hesitant to embrace a position in favour of exploiting our own uranium reserves – in a country which has the world’s largest known recoverable deposits.)
Multi-billion dollar deals underscore appetite
To underscore this most recent pressure on nuclear demand broadly, it’s worth reflecting on some of the more recent landmark deals that have been executed in 2026 YTD:
- October 2026: Google inks a US$4.3B deal with US-based Constellation Energy for 3.6GW of nuclear energy to power data centres.
- Sept 2026: Amazon inks a US$3B deal with US-based Constellation Energy for 690MW of nuclear power; in October, Amazon also inked a 960MW deal with another company called X-Energy.
- January 2026: Meta inks a 2.6GW supply deal (value not disclosed) with Texas firm Vistra Corp.
This is not an exhaustive list for 2026; and this list also omits to mention that back in September of 2024, Microsoft signed a deal also with Constellation Energy to supply it with nuclear energy for 20 years, valued at some US$16B (not adjusted for inflation.)
While this deal was also tied into a restart of the historic Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the US, clearly, this trend is set to continue.
(While its IPO ended up falling short of Australian and international investors’ appetites, Australian AI aspirant Firmus was also intending to utilise renewable energy for its planned data centres in Australia.)
China’s nuclear boom as demand signal
In discussing the upcoming decade for the nuclear energy sector, it would be remiss to miss a third large element behind demand momentum.
While Net Zero initiatives remain in relative infancy, along with the intersection of the nuclear energy sector and AI data centre demand, there’s another juggernaut catalyst – China’s nuclear boom, and, the planned rise of India as a nuclear power.
As of October 2026, China has 65 nuclear reactors already working with another 38 reactors in the pipeline being built, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA). While China’s nuclear energy ramp-up has been a defining trait of the 21stCentury, since COVID, efforts have only accelerated.
Speaking to HotCopper, ASX-listed uranium explorer and development company Elevate Uranium (ASX:EL8) Managing Director & CEO Murray Hill described the nuclear boom in China as proof of a larger demand signal worldwide.
“I’d frame [China’s nuclear boom] as a demand signal … China has around 60 reactors operating and more than 30 under construction, roughly half of all reactors being built globally,” Hill said.
“India is planning a major expansion, and Japan, Korea and others in the region are recommitting to nuclear. Together, Asia is the world’s fastest-growing nuclear market, and it’s right on our doorstep.”
Then there’s our India uranium supply deal
One crucial observation to note here is that China is no longer the only Asian economic superpower Australia has a strong trade partnership with.
The rise of India’s economy since the turn of the Century has seen the world’s most populous nation come to the fore as a major power, and nuclear energy lies at the heart of a recent trade deal between Australia and India.
On the 9th of July of this year, Australia and India inked a uranium export supply deal from Australia to allow long-term deliveries of the nuclear energy fuel feedstock during a visit to Melbourne by Indian PM Narendra Modi.
India, along with many other countries around the world from Brazil to major economies throughout Europe, has committed to boosting its nuclear energy capacity, targeting 100GW capacity by 2047.
While China’s nuclear boom is underpinned by its own desires to create sovereign supply capacity, other countries will still need to rely on stable jurisdictions to ink long-term supply agreements with – and Elevate CEO Murray Hill noted to HotCopper that Australia has the world’s largest known recoverable uranium reserves.
Except, the problem for Australia remains a fragmented state-by-state approach to uranium exploration and mining. This is opposed to a hypothetical national streamlined approach which would likely encourage greater investment – and greater riches for Australia.
(Especially at a time when the iron ore trade appears set for long-term difficulty with a Chinese market keen to wean off Australian reliance.)
Greenlit in SA, banned in WA, staggered in the NT
The most obvious difficulty with Australia’s uranium exploration, development and export policybase is that the Federal Government has one set of rules while each state and territory in Australia has a different approach.
In the eyes of Elevate Uranium MD & CEO Murray Hill, this likely comes as a detriment to investor appetite to back and thus accelerate development of such projects in Australia – during a time when global demand is already booming, and, set to increase.
“I’d give credit where it’s due,” Hill says of Canberra’s approach to nuclear energy – and uranium exploration, a mineral Australia’s vast interior is rich with.
“The Federal Government has been clear that it supports uranium mining and export under Australia’s strict safeguards framework. Its recent move to accelerate supply to India is a sensible decision … the world is asking for more supply from reliable, democratic jurisdictions. Australia is the most obvious candidate to provide it.”
“I’d focus on three things. First, consistency. Uranium in WA is treated differently from the Territory and from South Australia, even though it’s the same commodity and the same export market under the same federal safeguards.
“In WA specifically, I’d like to see the ban on new uranium mines lifted and replaced with a rigorous, case-by-case assessment process, the same standard we apply to other commodities.”
Hill also pointed to a need to reduce approval timeframes for projects in Australia, which is also a major hindrance to investor enthusiasm to back large capital allotments behind such projects – something compounded by what he described as policy hesitancy from Australian policymakers broadly.
Elevate’s project in Namibia highlights benefits
While Hill is left to hope the Federal and state and territory Australian governments collectively can work towards a streamlined approach across all jurisdictions, he’s able to point to a jurisdiction where uranium mining has been net positive for an entire country’s economy.
In speaking with HotCopper he also highlighted the successes Namibia’s economy has seen on the back of a uranium mining sector, a jurisdiction where Elevate Uranium (ASX: EL8) holds its flagship Koppies project, as well as a portfolio of other landholdings.
”Operating in Namibia gives us a useful point of comparison. Namibia has been producing uranium for 50 years, and the government sees it as a strategic industry,” Hill elaborated.
“The Erongo region has established mines, rail, road, port access through Walvis Bay, and a skilled local workforce. There’s a real sense of national purpose behind the industry, and that makes it an attractive place to develop a project.
”On nuclear energy more broadly, Australia is one of very few major economies that still prohibits nuclear power by law, so in that sense we’re out of step with much of the developed world. Whether we adopt nuclear power is a decision for Australians, but we should at least be maximising our role as a supplier.”
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