Europe today

The use of small nuclear reactors, whether using thorium or uranium pellets, can provide all the power needs of the country. They offer low-cost electric power and that can be used to manufacture diesel fuel without increasing the CO2 in the atmosphere. Electric power can split water by electrolysis to make hydrogen which can then be combined with carbon dioxide extracted from the air to make diesel, gasoline and aviation fuel. When these are burned, the CO2 is returned to the atmosphere from which it came thus being CO2 neutral. These reactors are made assembly line style in factories and shipped to the use point, avoiding the need for long transmission lines and they do not need water to operate. The U.S. government is aggressively pushing nuclear energy, aiming to quadruple capacity by roughly four-fold by 2050. Led by the Department of Energy (DOE) and recent Trump administration executive orders , policies focusing on fast-tracking new reactor licensing, boosting domestic fuel production (HALEU), and supporting $80 billion in new projects. In addition, private companies—particularly major technology firms—are increasingly turning to nuclear power to meet the immense, 24/7 electricity demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers. This shift is marked by investments in both existing nuclear reactors and next-generation advanced reactor technologies.