With the new and growing electricity demand that artificial intelligence (AI) is putting on the grid, it seems like the smart money is on nuclear to power AI. Nuclear power emits no carbon dioxide, has a low land and materials footprint, and is extremely safe to operate. So why is it banned in Minnesota?

Nuclear is regaining popularity, with a majority of Americans favoring new nuclear power plants (and a more bipartisan consensus than any other energy source). Yet the number of nuclear power plants in the U.S. peaked at 111 in 1990 and has since declined to 94 in 2024.

Nuclear power plants have the highest capacity factors of any other electricity source because they are able to run nearly 24/7, excluding scheduled maintenance. In 2023, nuclear power’s capacity factor was 93%. U.S. nuclear generation outpaced wind and solar through 2017 despite net capacity decreases:

Starting in 1990, nuclear generation in the United States grew by 260 million megawatt-hours (MWh) through 2020. Remarkably, it did this without any net capacity additions, as nuclear capacity actually saw a net decrease of over 7,000 megawatts (MW). The bump in nuclear generation was instead caused by increasing efficiency at existing plants.

Even more remarkable, however, is that the growth of nuclear generation outpaced total generation of wind and solar combined until 2017, despite wind and solar capacity growing from 2,000 MW in 1990 to over 115,500 MW.

Yet Minnesota is one of nine states that have imposed a moratorium on new nuclear power plants. It is joined by California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Department of Energy even states that “Minnesota, for example, has banned new reactor construction outright,” while other states with bans allow construction under specific conditions like legislative or voter approval. Wisconsin, Kentucky, Montana, and West Virginia repealed their moratoriums beginning in 2016.

There’s an innovative future ahead with microreactors and small modular reactors on the horizon, but Minnesota is setting itself up to be left behind. The only frightening thing about nuclear power is that we’re not allowed to build more of it.

Happy Halloween!

Generating this spooky nuclear plant took as much energy as charging a smartphone. AI is going to need all the reliable, affordable, 24/7 power it can get!





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