Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change.
The VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF has surged 75% over the past year, climbing from around $84 in January 2025 to $146.60 today. With $3.6 billion in assets, this fund concentrates on uranium miners and nuclear utilities, betting that renewed interest in carbon-free baseload power will translate into sustained demand for nuclear fuel and infrastructure. The question now is whether this momentum can continue or if the rally has gotten ahead of fundamentals.
The stillness of a bitterly cold afternoon is broken by the swish, swoosh of three 50m-long blades, adjusting automatically to the tiniest shift in the direction of a dependable westerly wind that keeps them turning day and night. From here, up on a mountain ridge in rural Fukushima prefecture in north-east Japan, the wind turbines stretch for miles. In the distance, you can see the outlines of the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which is in the slow process of being decommissioned at a cost so far of $35bn (26bn) almost 15 years since it suffered a triple meltdown after being struck by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and a 15m (49ft) tsunami.
We need to have a more mature relationship with risk. Projects often do not go ahead because of concerns about safety but often all you are doing is moving the risk somewhere else. He said the UK's risk aversion was demonstrated to him by a recent decision by London's royal parks to close during high winds. Instead of going for a walk through the park, [people] ended up walking around the edge of it instead, where there were often more trees.
UK energy bill payers will hand over 2bn a year in subsidies to EDF, the French company building two nuclear power stations, according to government figures. EDF, owned by the French government, will be entitled to 1bn in annual payments as soon as Hinkley Point C, in Somerset, comes on to the grid in 2030. The sum is due under the contracts-for-difference system that guarantees low-carbon energy companies a fixed price for the electricity they generate.
The AI tailwinds have really powered energy stocks over the past year, thanks to a looming surge in demand driven by new AI data centers coming online. Undoubtedly, it's not just the energy companies with AI data center partnerships in place that have won big. Even the heavy-duty machinery suppliers (think the turbine makers), vital for power production, have benefited greatly. Undoubtedly, the AI tailwind might not be so quick to fade for the energy companies that have gained significant ground in the past year.
This is where Google comes in, with help to develop a custom AI-powered platform to optimize the reactor construction process. The new system combines AI models and prediction tools from both companies with Westinghouse's WNEXUS, a 3D digital twin of its reactors. With current and historic data, it is able to predict bottlenecks, optimize construction task sequences, adjust staffing levels, and account for external factors like supply chain constraints, the pair claim.
Britain's first ever mini nuclear power station in Wales is set to deliver power to millions of homes within a decade. The government has announced that three 'small modular reactors' (SMRs) will be built at a new power station in Wylfa, on the coast of Anglesey in North Wales. Designed and made by Rolls-Royce, each small reactor will deliver enough power for 1 million homes, or 3 million in total, for at least 60 years.
Ukraine's anti-corruption agency has launched a wide-ranging investigation into alleged bribery within the country's energy sector, focusing on the state-owned nuclear company Energoatom. The independent agency said Monday that a former adviser to the energy minister, Energoatom's head of security, a businessman, and four other employees were involved. It said business partners of Energoatom had been coerced into paying large bribes.
The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is in the midst of a relicensing process that, if successful, will keep it running for another 20 years. California's last source of round-the-clock, carbon-free nuclear power is undergoing a rigorous review to gauge whether it can operate in a safe and cost-effective manner without taking a major toll on the local environment. While the review is ongoing, keeping the plant running has become vital with tech companies desperately searching for power and the grid feeling the increasing strain.
Oklo anticipates the collaboration will lead to repeatable templates for future projects as it works toward breaking ground on its first nuclear powerhouse. The company said last week that it had finished its pre-application readiness assessment for Phase 1 of its combined license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
