Energy Security to Climate Goals

From small modular reactors to nuclear powered data centres, the conversation around nuclear energy is changing and bringing new and younger voices to the fore. For them, nuclear energy is a field of innovation, offering solutions to some of the greatest issues the world is facing: energy security, economic development and climate change. The IAEA spoke with young people around the world to learn why they support nuclear power.

“Today, young people grow up in perpetual anxiety over climate and environmental degradation,” said Mads Bunch Larsen, 28, of the Danish climate education project Foreningen Atomkraft Ja Tak. “But we also have a lot more scientific evidence that nuclear power?is safe and an effective tool to mitigate climate change while ensuring reliable energy.”

Across the world, young people have driven protests for action against climate change, and many see nuclear power as a key tool for climate change mitigation. Nuclear power already provides around a quarter of the world’s low carbon electricity, offering reliable, dispatchable power that can complement renewables such as wind or solar.

“While many policymakers advocate for renewable energy, they often overlook its intermittency — solar and wind power depend on weather conditions and require a stable back-up source when they are not generating electricity,” said Nicole Mikly, a 30-year-old stakeholder engagement and environmental officer at a nuclear research facility in Colombia.

Larsen said he was particularly excited about non-electric applications of nuclear technology, such as decarbonizing heating and heavy transport. “Nuclear energy is uniquely positioned to potentially deliver heat and hydrogen for such applications,” he said.

In the past 5 years, interest in nuclear has surged. Since 2020, the IAEA outlook for nuclear power has steadily increased and world nuclear capacity is now projected to increase by 2.5 times from 2023 levels by 2050 in the IAEA’s high case scenario.?

The challenge? Building a nuclear workforce where younger generations can play a central role. The 2025 Global Energy Talent Index report, a survey of people working in the nuclear sector across 150 countries, shows that the proportion of respondents aged under 35 has decreased to 37 per cent in 2025 from 48 per cent in 2023.?

Women make up only around a quarter of the nuclear workforce, according to a 2023 Nuclear Energy Agency report. The IAEA is trying to change that through initiatives such as the IAEA Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Fellowship Programme (MSCFP), which provides financial support to women studying for master’s degrees in nuclear-related subjects, and the Lise Meitner Programme, which supports mid-career women working in the nuclear field.

Flora Mbouyom from Cameroon studied nuclear energy at France’s IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire with support from the MSCFP. The 24-year-old plans to work in waste management once she completes her doctorate. “I am always surprised to see how people fear radioactive waste more than all the problems caused by a lack of energy,” she said.

Fear and misinformation are among the biggest barriers to the global expansion of nuclear energy, according to many of the younger people the IAEA spoke to.

“As a child I vividly remember being terrified of radiation after seeing a TV news segment about Chornobyl,” said Larsen.

Emmanuel Montwedi, 37, a nuclear engineering analyst at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation,?agreed. “The previous generation made the subject of nuclear energy seem overly serious and frightening,” he said.

Larsen realized nuclear energy’s transformative potential while studying macroeconomics at university.?“I remember being shocked at how much clean energy was being produced in countries such as Sweden, France and Switzerland, which all rely a lot on nuclear energy and some hydropower,” he said. All three countries have largely decarbonized their electricity production thanks to nuclear energy and hydropower.

Climate activist Ia Aanstoot, a 20-year-old from Sweden, identified a lack of large scale financing solutions as a major barrier to the adoption of nuclear energy, both in Europe and the Global South. However, both Montwedi and Aanstoot described the future of nuclear energy as “exciting”, with Aanstoot singling out the “massive potential” of nuclear energy in tackling the world’s most pressing challenges, from poverty to the climate crisis. ?

Attitudes to nuclear energy are changing. Beyond reducing emissions, nuclear power creates jobs, strengthens economies and drives innovation. As the industry evolves, it appeals to and needs a new generation of thinkers, problem solvers and advocates to build a more resilient future.