Global nuclear power capacity could more than triple by 2060, driven by rising electricity demand, the expansion of artificial intelligence-powered data centres and technology companies' growing need for reliable, carbon-free energy, the head of the UN nuclear agency said Friday.
Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), outlined the projection in the agency's annual report to the UN General Assembly, highlighting nuclear energy's growing role in meeting global energy needs.
An increasing number of countries view nuclear power as essential to strengthening energy security, Grossi said, describing it as comparable to solar energy and safer than other energy options.
"In 2025, more than 400 operating reactors in more than 30 countries produced 10% of global electricity and a quarter of its low-carbon electricity," he said. "More than 60 new reactors are under construction and the projections for future nuclear capacity have shifted dramatically upward."
Beyond the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Grossi addressed concerns surrounding the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea, unprecedented threats to nuclear safety arising from the war in Ukraine, and reports that some unnamed countries are discussing the possibility of acquiring nuclear weapons.
Regarding Iran, whose nuclear facilities were struck by the United States last year before Washington and Israel launched a war on February 28, Grossi told UN member states that the technical groundwork necessary for a diplomatic agreement had been completed.
"I call on the parties to redouble their efforts towards agreeing a diplomatic solution that includes the IAEA's indispensable verification role, without which no agreement can be sustainable," he said.
Grossi stressed that IAEA inspectors must be allowed to return to Iran promptly, adding that this would require a resumption of negotiations.
Turning to North Korea, Grossi warned that leader Kim Jong Un's expanding nuclear programme, which operates without IAEA oversight, demonstrated the consequences of violating international restrictions.
The programme, he said, "stands as a stark reminder of the consequences when red lines are crossed," referring to violations of UN Security Council resolutions prohibiting nuclear weapons production.
In Ukraine, Grossi expressed concern about the precarious situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, citing repeated losses of external power, limited backup diesel supplies and military activities threatening the facility and its workers.
Grossi also highlighted progress in addressing longstanding concerns over Syria's nuclear activities. He said the IAEA had made "significant progress" in clarifying and resolving outstanding questions after nearly two decades of uncertainty through engagement with the government of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
In September, Grossi reported that the government of Bashar Assad, which was toppled in December 2024 by opposition forces led by al-Sharaa, had been constructing a nuclear reactor designed to produce fissile material potentially usable in nuclear weapons.