Al Gore has some positive things to say about nuclear power

Demand from data centers: Amy Harder, the national energy correspondent for Axios, writes that Gore said the “surge in demand for electricity is causing some reanalysis of what role nuclear might play when you have large, wealthy, consumer-facing businesses that need enormous amounts of new power," likely referring to such businesses as Meta’s AI data centers.

Gore indicated during his interview with Harder that this new demand may help reverse a problem that has halted the growth of the nuclear energy industry over the past few decades—namely, high costs. “For a variety of reasons, [nuclear power] has priced itself out of the market as the market used to exist. Now the market is different. . . . I think a lot of large users of electricity are recalculating whether or not they want to place very large, one-time bets for a huge increment of power in the form of nuclear,” Gore said. “And I think you’re going to see some resurgence of nuclear power.”

Eager to discuss nuclear: Harder writes that Gore “was eager to dive deeper into nuclear power in our conversation. Unprompted, he sought to address various concerns about it.”

Of used fuel Gore told Harder, “I think that the waste can be stored safely.” He also touched on nonproliferation during the interview, saying, “I think the terrorism threats are real, but they’re shared by a lot of other kinds of facilities around the world. . . . The proliferation issues are very real and have to be attended to with extreme care, safety of operation.” I think we can handle that. I really do.

Still, doubts: According to Harder, Gore expressed some reservations about nuclear. “The cost issue is the one that’s really a barrier to the expansion of nuclear,” he said.

Regard small modular reactors, Gore wasn’t sure how big of a role they would play in a nuclear resurgence “due to their price tag.” He said, “Some of the most responsible policy analysts that I respect are now shifting back away from SMRs as maybe a technological dead end again.”

Bullish-with-a-caveat: Harder notes “how much has changed in our world such that it compels even people at Al Gore’s level to rethink their positions. . . . Gore’s bullish-with-a-caveat position shows the potential resurgence of nuclear power. But past precedent suggests plenty of hurdles lie ahead.”