TREE NEWS update: The International Atomic Energy Agency said on September 14 that global nuclear power capacity could reach as much as 1,284 GW by 2060, about 3.4 times the 2025 level, marking its sixth consecutive upward revision. Under the high-growth scenario, capacity would hit 1,045 GW by 2050; even the low-growth case reaches 696 GW by 2060. Director General Rafael Grossi said nuclear’s importance is rising with global electricity demand, and the agency expects small modular reactors to play a larger role in the expansion.
IAEA Raises Global Nuclear Power Forecast for Sixth Straight Year
The IAEA's repeated upward revisions are a notable signal that nuclear is being re-priced as a baseload answer to rising electricity demand, not just a climate story. The explicit nod to small modular reactors matters because their modular, factory-built format is what makes nuclear financeable at a smaller scale — and it's the segment most likely to intersect with energy-intensive data-center and industrial demand. The open question is whether SMR timelines and supply chains can keep pace with the forecast, since capacity projections have historically run ahead of delivery.
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