A widespread demand for nuclear power has led some to call this period a “nuclear renaissance,” one that will continue to build momentum in 2026. This growing need is being driven by two primary use cases: small modular nuclear reactors for cloud infrastructure and terrestrial data center needs, and nuclear electric reactors for lunar surface or in-space propulsion applications.

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Brad Tousley is former director of the Tactical Technology Office at DARPA and partner at Elara Nova.