Latest Global Nuclear Project Snapshot Shows China Still Dominates

Nuclear has been a core investment theme since December 2020, followed by the launch of “The Next AI Trade” in April 2024 and the introduction of the “Powering Up America” theme shortly thereafter. 

We expanded our nuclear coverage yesterday as Goldman initiated bullish coverage on Uranium Energy Corp. As a reminder, we first flagged Cameco Corp. as a buy around $9 a share; it’s now trading above $78. 

Goldman’s latest nuclear reactor tracker, which charts out global project progress, underscores that a new era of atomic energy is set to come online to help power all things AI in the 2030s. 

New reactor progress and announcements:

North America

• 7/18/2025 – United States – At an energy summit in Pittsburgh PA, Westinghouse announced plans to start construction of the first of 10 new AP1000 reactors in the US by 2030 (here).

• 7/29/2025 – United States – The US NRC has approved licensing for the 800MW restart of Palisades Nuclear Plant. Holtec expects the plant to be restarted in the fourth quarter of 2025 (here).

• 8/7/2025 – United States – The DOE approved the 5th loan disbursement to Holtec to help fund the restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant. The 5th disbursement was for ~$82mn and the loan guarantee to Holtec is for “up to $1.52bn.” To date, ~$335mn has been disbursed (here).

Europe

• 7/7/2025 – Belgium – Restart and extended operation of Belgian reactors approved. The Federal Agency for Nuclear Control has approved the restart of unit 3 at Tihange nuclear power plant following a maintenance outage. Doel 4 is scheduled to restart by November 2025 at the latest. Doel 4 and Tihange 2 were the country’s last 2 reactors which were scheduled to close in 2025 (here).

• 7/18/2025 – Bulgaria – Bulgaria partners with Citi for financing of new Kozloduy units. The construction of Units 7 and 8 will be the first reactors in Europe using Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology. The goal is to have Unit 7 operational by 2035 and Unit 8 operational by 2038 (here).

• 7/22/2025 – United Kingdom – UK Energy Secretary signed a FID for Sizewell C nuclear power plant in England. The government confirmed it will take a 44.9% stake in the project. The plan for Sizewill C is to build 2 EPR reactors producing a total of 3.2GW of electricity for at least 60 years. This is set to be the first new nuclear construction project in the UK in decades (here).

• 7/29/2025 – Slovakia – Slovakia has moved forward with plans to build a nuclear plant (costs estimated at €13-15bn) in partnership with the US company Westinghouse. The intergovernmental deal signed with the US has already been finalized however the deal does not technically oblige Slovakia to choose Westinghouse. A construction contract is expected in 2027, pending feasibility studies (here).

Asia

• 7/22/2025 – Japan – Japan is reportedly conducting surveys for its first nuclear power plant location since Fukushima incident (here).

• 8/1/2025 – Kazakhstan – China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has now secured a contract to lead the construction of a third nuclear facility in Kazakhstan. Earlier in the year (June 2025) Russia’s Rosatom was selected to build the first nuclear facility in Kazakhstan while CNNC has been selected to build the second and third facility (here).

• 8/7/2025 – India – India laid out key features of its nuclear energy strategy with the goal of achieving 100GW of nuclear capacity by 2047. The government noted Gorakhpur 1 and 2 are expected to be completed by 2031-2032. The government describes these as under construction, however the PRIS database does not consider these as under construction until the first major placing of concrete (here).

• 8/8/2025 – China – The China National Nuclear Safety Administration issued a construction license on Friday, August 8th for units 1 and 2 at the Jinqimen nuclear power plant. The construction of the two, Hualong One reactors, was approved on December 29th, 2023 with the ground breaking ceremony held in February 2024. The current license now allows first concrete to be poured for the foundation of the reactor (here).

Latest reactors connected to power grids. 

China dominates the reactor pipeline. 

Global reactors under construction (years under construction). 

Chinese reactors under construction (years under construction). 

A separate Goldman note outlines that the coming uranium supply deficit is set to explode. 

Our most recent nuclear coverage:

• Trump’s “Nuclear” Order And How To Profit: All You Need To Know About The Coming Nuclear Energy Transition

• Goldman Names “Top Tactical Play” In Nuclear Theme Ahead Of Uranium Structural Deficit Explosion

• Inside The Nuclear Energy Ecosystem: Where Goldman Clients Are Parking Their Money

• Goldman Turns Bullish On This Uranium Firm With Largest Licensed U.S. Processing Capacity

And we’ll leave you with this…

Hey @grok how long does it take to build a new nuclear power plant https://t.co/iX4l8J6WiR

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 11, 2025

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