Exclusive: AI power demand cracks resistance to nuclear power

Driving the news: The NRDC filed comments earlier this month in support of an early step toward restarting a nuclear power plant in Iowa that Google is planning to use for one of its data centers in the region.

"This is unprecedented for us because it marks the first time in our history that we have taken action in support of an individual nuclear power plant," Manish Bapna, president and CEO of NRDC, told Axios in an exclusive interview.

Zoom out: Some high-profile environmentalists are warming to nuclear as AI drives unprecedented electricity demand — and because the power source emits no carbon.

• Former Vice President Al Gore has said the power source deserves a fresh look, and John Kerry, former climate diplomat, also just penned an article backing nuclear.
• A Gallup poll last year found that U.S. support for nuclear as an electricity source reached 61%, just one point shy of the 2010 record high over the three-plus decades it has tracked the issue.

The big picture: Deep-pocketed tech companies like Google are racing to secure electricity — ideally, though not necessarily, clean — to power the data centers behind the AI boom.

• The Iowa facility is one of a handful of mothballed nuclear reactors that tech companies are paying to restart. It could reopen as soon as 2029, NRDC says in its filing.
• More advanced nuclear technologies are also attracting interest from hyperscalers, but most aren't expected online until the 2030s.

Zoom in: "NRDC's preliminary view is that the plant's restart is likely to have both climate and environmental benefits and consumer benefits," the 56-year-old environmental group wrote in its March 2 comments.

• "[Google's data center project] might otherwise have been wholly or partially powered by some combination of existing coal and natural gas, and new natural gas."

By the numbers: Rising electricity demand is stress-testing Iowa's power mix.

• The Hawkeye State has long been a wind leader, with nearly 60% of its electricity coming from the resource.
• But coal generation jumped 32% between 2024 and 2025, pushing coal's share of the state's mix to more than 25%, the filing says.

Flashback: NRDC is among environmental groups that have long resisted nuclear power over concerns about radioactive waste and safety — concerns that persist today.

• A former NRDC leader has said the group couldn't support nuclear because it would lose donations, according to Axios reporting in 2017.

"I think there are people in the environmental movement, and the public more broadly, that understandably have significant concerns about the safety dimensions of nuclear," Bapna said in response to that article. "We share those concerns."

• Among issues raised in its filing, NRDC said the Iowa plant must include safety measures required after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

Friction point: The group also warned about the independence and functionality of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission under President Trump.

• The White House's reshaping of the NRC has created a cloud of uncertainty that risks undermining President Trump's goal of approving more nuclear reactors, some observers have said.
• "The nation's ability to deploy nuclear power safely, to sustain public trust in its operation, and to realize its full potential as a tool against climate change depends on a regulator worthy of that mission," NRDC said.

What we're watching: NRDC's comments were filed as part of an interim step toward a full reopening, so it will have opportunities to weigh in again — and potentially change its mind.

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