The chances of a “nuclear renaissance” in the US are building, but could be better assured if utility companies form a consortium to help increase the orders needed for the industry to scale up, Adam Stein, a nuclear analyst at the California-based Breakthrough Institute environmental thinktank said.

Speaking in a recorded interview on a Platts podcast analysing the state of the nuclear industry, Stein said that what is missing from the equation towards seeing a real nuclear renaissance was firm orders.

He said orders could not solely come from technology companies building data centres or industrial companies like Dow, which is planning to deploy X-energy small modular reactors (SMRs) at its chemical plant in Seadrift, Texas, but must come through utility companies, which provide the bulk of electricity generation in the US.

Given there were over 300 utility companies in the US with the majority lacking the capacity or need to buy a large offtake from nuclear power, then they must find a way to band together.