Office of Nuclear Energy

The Office of Nuclear Energy is working to deploy nuclear energy as a solution to help tackle the climate crisis, strengthen our energy security, and provide equal economic opportunities for every community.  

The United States operates the largest fleet of reactors in the world, supplying 19 percent of the nation’s electricity and 50 percent of its clean power.  

The existing reactor fleet, along with new advanced reactor designs, will help the nation achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.  

The Office of Nuclear Energy supports this effort by working with universities, national laboratories, and industry partners to:  
-Boost the performance of the existing fleet 
-Enable the global deployment of advanced reactors 
-Secure and sustain the global nuclear fuel cycle 
-And expand international nuclear energy cooperation around the world.  

Current NE supported projects are  
-Developing new accident tolerant fuels with industry to enhance the performance of today’s reactors  
-Demonstrating hydrogen production at existing plants to expand market opportunities 
-And building a pipeline of advanced reactor designs that could all be operational by the 2030s—including the nation’s first microreactor and small modular reactors before the end of the decade.  

NE is also working to address gaps in the U.S. domestic nuclear fuel cycle to ensure the availability of high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel for advanced reactors and is re-starting a consent-based-siting process for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.  

All of these efforts will center environmental and energy justice to help make sure no energy community is left behind in this transition to a clean energy economy.