America’s nuclear energy industry is in decline. Low natural gas prices, financing hurdles, failure to find a permanent repository for high-level nuclear waste, reactions to the Fukushima accident in Japan, and other factors are hastening the day when existing U.S. reactors become uneconomic. The decline of the U.S. nuclear energy industry could be much more rapid than policy makers and stakeholders anticipate.

About the CSIS Nuclear Energy Program About the CSIS Comission on Nuclear Energy Policy in the United States Executive Summary Chapter 1 Nuclear Energy in the United States and Worldwide: Current Status and Outlook Chapter 2 Making the Case: The National Interest and U.S. Nuclear Energy Leadership Chapter 3 Challenges for the U.s Energy Industry Chapter 4 Recommendations Appendix Key contributions to the CSIS Nuclear energy Program