The US nuclear industry is intensifying its lobbying to save the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits it says are vital for meeting energy demand being fuelled by the development of artificial intelligence and the need for data centres.

Lawmakers from the House ways and means committee, which is responsible for writing tax law, this week released draft legislation that would phase out nuclear energy subsidies starting in 2029, three years earlier than written in the Inflation Reduction Act, in a move that caught the sector by surprise.

According to the UK-based Financial Times (subscription required), lobbyists are now racing to persuade lawmakers to rescind or moderate cuts to nuclear industry subsidies, which until recently had more bipartisan support than other low-carbon energy technologies such as wind and solar.