OPINION | DAVID HESS
strategic nuclear markets
Sizing up
All the attention on US, European and Chinese new-build prospects may be distracting us from the really important potential nuclear growth markets
David Hess, Senior VP DeepGeo
ISH THAT IT WASN’T, but nuclear energy remains rich-man’s technology. Take a look at a map of where nuclear plants are located around the world and note how it correlates closely with the divide between
the global economic north and global south. While it’s not a perfect match, most nuclear plants are based in Europe, Russia and North America with a fair number also in the most economically developed Asian countries – Japan, South Korea and China. Apart from that we see a smattering of plants in other regions, but barely enough to make a dent in the local energy demand or emissions. With the now surging interest in nuclear power
globally one might hope that this industry elitism would end – that efforts would be focused on making nuclear energy more accessible and egalitarian so that a greater number of people could enjoy its many benefits. There’s a wish-list of initiatives that could help here – including new financing sources, simpler and cheaper nuclear
technologies, and an international framework with a clear unadulterated mission to accelerate nuclear energy deployment. Some progress has been made in these areas – the
World Bank’s decision to start funding nuclear projects and the triple nuclear pledge spring to mind – but not enough yet to increase the flow in this part of the reactor pipeline. The simple fact is that the new nuclear renaissance is in danger of leaving a large fraction of the world’s population behind. The fundamental inequity of who gets to benefit from nuclear energy looks set to continue for some time yet. The majority of reactor vendors, developers and even
©Alexy Kovynev
nuclear bodies are focused on the existing nuclear countries and developed economies, with the conviction that these can afford to pay for projects and have the technical and regulatory capacity to move ahead quickly. This includes of course most of the established vendors and essentially all of the advanced nuclear start-ups for whom a path to commercialisation is clearly the number one priority. While understandable from a business perspective, this narrow focus is almost certainly a mistake from a geopolitical one. These newcomer and under-served countries have the potential for rapid economic growth. For instance, Vietnam’s economy grew 7% in 2024 and 8% in 2025. Their economies could surge ahead, if provided with sufficient power to do so. Compare this to some of ossified economies in well-powered Europe and we see the potential for a landmark shift in the centre of global economic power. The UK economy, for example, grew by just 1.3% in 2025 and most of that was in the first quarter. Assisting the nuclear energy development of these
Investing in new nuclear power plants is a no-brainer. What’s puzzling me is deciding where?
14 | April 2026 |
www.neimagazine.com
countries at any early stage would create a positive economic loop, enabling more energy-intensive industry and thereby creating the need for more nuclear energy in the future. It may seem like a risky bet, but it could pay off big time for the bold partners that get in early. Moreover, this focus on well-established nuclear markets forgets just how strategically important many of these newcomer regions are – both to the world in general and in many cases to the future of the nuclear industry itself. Let’s start in Africa, which is projected to be home to
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