UK can only win global AI race with rapid nuclear rollout

The report — Powering the UK Data Boom: The Nuclear Solution to the UK’s Data Centre Energy Crunch — shows that electricity demand from UK data centres is set to increase more than fivefold to 26.2 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030, equivalent to almost 9% of the nation’s electricity use and around 30% of commercial consumption. Meeting this long-term growth will require major expansion of nuclear capacity, the report concludes.

As AI adoption accelerates, data centres need secure, 24/7 low-carbon power and “five-9s” reliability (99.999% uptime) — but the UK’s current energy system can’t keep pace. The report shows decade-long waits for grid connections and the highest industrial electricity prices among advanced economies risk pushing projects overseas to countries combining fast access to clean, reliable power and competitive pricing.

Meanwhile, data centre developers are working to 18–24-month build timelines, creating a gap between digital infrastructure needs and secure clean power supply. Without action this decade, the report warns the UK will rely more on gas to keep digital infrastructure running, driving up emissions and energy costs.

The NIA is calling for government, regulators, the AI sector and energy developers to work together on a national strategy that:

• Accelerates all types of new nuclear, including large, small and advanced reactors
• Reforms siting policy and cuts licensing
• Enables co-location where nuclear can power data centres directly
• Prioritises clean power access for critical digital infrastructure

Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive, Nuclear Industry Association, said:

“Britain’s digital future depends on secure, clean energy. We can only build the AI economy of tomorrow with rapid, expedited deployment of clean, reliable, sovereign nuclear power in the mix. The recommendations of the Government’s Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce give us a perfect opportunity to create a better framework for deploying nuclear to meet data centre needs, but we must move now.”

William D. Magwood, IV, Director General, Nuclear Energy Agency, said:

“The Oxford Economics-NIA study provides crucial insights into the potential role of nuclear energy in meeting the growing energy demand of data centres in the UK – which the study estimates will have a five-fold increase by 2030. Nuclear energy, with its reliability, scalability and low carbon emissions, make it an ideal partner for fast-growing data centres.”

Clarissa Hahn, Economist and Report Author, Oxford Economics, said:

“We forecast that UK data centres’ electricity consumption will rise by 2030, accounting for about 9% of the UK’s projected national electricity demand. In this report, we identify several competitiveness challenges facing the UK—such as high industrial electricity prices and delayed grid connections. Our findings show that nuclear energy is uniquely positioned to meet this growing demand: offering reliable 24/7 power with a low-carbon footprint that the tech sector is calling for.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. Powering the UK Data Boom: The Nuclear Solution to the UK’s Data Centre Energy Crunch can be accessed here.
2. The report estimates 50 new data centres will be built in the UK in the next five years adding 6.2 GW of IT power capacity, more than double the UK’s current capacity of 2.9 GW.
3. The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce has called for a ‘radical reset’ of nuclear regulation in the UK and outlined 47 recommendations for the government to speed up building new nuclear projects.

About the NIA
As the trade association for the civil nuclear industry in the UK, the Nuclear Industry
Association represents over 300 companies across the UK’s nuclear supply chain.

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For further information, please contact:
Iolo James
Head of Communications
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