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Nuclear energy is “on the clock” for data centers slated to come online in 2028 (POLITICO’s E&E News, subscription).

What’s going on: In their quest to feed the world’s artificial intelligence appetite, America’s large technology companies have “invested more than $8 billion across at least 12 advanced nuclear companies since 2018,” according to the article.

The challenge: Reliable, abundant, clean and safe nuclear energy is an ideal power source for the AI boom, but owing to a combination of cost, permitting issues and “decades of nuclear retrenchment,” it’s not scaling as fast as the market would like.

• Thus, tech firms and utilities face a choice: Either “pay for gigawatt-sized reactors that could take a decade to build, or buy into smaller reactors that might not meet the full scale of data center energy needs.”

The chance: Concern about whether nuclear can meet promised needs aside, the confluence of explosive growth in AI and the rebirth of nuclear power means there’s an unprecedented opportunity in play.

• “The big demand for clean, firm power is now,” Francesco d’Avack, an S&P Global researcher, said during a CERAWeek presentation, according to E&E News. “Twenty years from now: Who knows? What I do know is that solar will get cheaper and batteries will get cheaper. You can always have gas backup. … [T]here is really a window of opportunity that is now.”

The NAM says: “Nuclear power has a key role to play in an all-of-the-above energy strategy—the only strategy that will meet the demand for power from the manufacturing and data center industries,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.

• “As the NAM has repeatedly stressed in its advocacy, including most recently in its influential permitting reform report and national “ Building to Win” campaign, Congress must act swiftly to unleash the development of all energy sources, to preserve manufacturers’ competitiveness and secure another century (or more) of American energy dominance.”