After a generation of stagnation, interest in US nuclear energy is sky high, thanks to artificial intelligence’s voracious energy needs. Nuclear companies are stock market darlings, and the Trump administration recently unveiled an $80 billion-plus commitment to help fund new reactors.

There’s just one problem: Hardly anything will be ready to plug in for a decade.

In theory, $80 billion can buy enough reactors to power all of Virginia’s Data Center Alley. In reality, traditional reactors take 10 years or more to build, while a highly anticipated wave of small, modular reactors has yet to produce commercial power. That means the only plants that will go into service anytime soon are a handful of shuttered facilities that can be restarted.

“There’s a lot going on, and nothing is going on

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