The growing support for nuclear power is compared to the rapid sentiment shift on gay marriage, driven by younger generations. As older activists, whose opposition was rooted in Cold War-era fears of nuclear weapons, fade away, a new generation sees nuclear energy as a key climate solution, creating a much more favorable political environment.

The public's rejection of nuclear power is a 'perfect storm' of psychological biases: the high salience of disasters (availability heuristic), an intuitive fear of 'contamination,' and the desire to eliminate one scary risk rather than reduce overall aggregate danger.

Fifteen years after Fukushima, Japan is reviving its nuclear fleet due to an energy policy impasse. The country's shift to renewables proved harder and slower than anticipated, leaving it with an aging nuclear fleet and a heavy, vulnerable dependence on imported fossil fuels. The restart reflects a pragmatic, if controversial, necessity.

Contrary to expectations, surging power demand from data centers and semiconductor manufacturing in Japan and South Korea is not boosting LNG imports. Instead, national policies are prioritizing renewables and nuclear to meet this new demand, effectively capping growth for natural gas in these key established markets.

Public perception of nuclear power is skewed by highly visible but rare disasters. A data-driven risk analysis reveals it is one of the safest energy sources. Fossil fuels, through constant air pollution, cause millions of deaths annually, making them orders of magnitude more dangerous.

The massive energy requirements for AI data centers are causing electricity prices to rise, creating public resentment. To counter this, governments are increasingly investing in nuclear power as a clean, stable energy source, viewing it as critical infrastructure to win the global AI race without alienating consumers.

The energy trilemma (clean, stable, abundant) has been reordered. Previously, 'clean' was the top priority. Now, driven by massive demand and geopolitical instability, the market and policymakers prioritize securing 'more' energy that is 'stable,' even if it means delaying decarbonization goals.

Perception of nuclear power is sharply divided by age. Those who remember the Three Mile Island accident are fearful, while younger generations, facing the climate crisis, see it as a clean solution. As this younger cohort gains power, a return to nuclear energy becomes increasingly likely.

For decades, electricity consumption was flat. Now, the massive energy demands of AI data centers are making clean, reliable, baseload power like nuclear an essential component of the energy grid, not just an option.