Nuclear power could more than triple by 2060, UN agency says

The head of the UN nuclear agency, Rafael Grossi, said on Friday (October 23, 2026) that he expects the use of nuclear power could more than triple by 2060.

Mr. Grossi said in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s annual report to the UN General Assembly that this will be driven by electrification, data centres powered by artificial intelligence and “technology companies’ appetite for reliable, carbon-free power”.

Nuclear energy is seen by a growing number of countries as key to improving their energy security, he said, stressing that it is on par with solar energy and “safer than every other option”.

“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,” the IAEA director-general said. “More than 60 new reactors are under construction, and the projections for future nuclear capacity have shifted dramatically upward.”

In addition to the growing use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Mr. Grossi spoke about the nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea, the “unprecedented threats to nuclear safety” from the war in Ukraine, and worrying reports that other countries he did not name are talking about acquiring nuclear weapons.

On Iran, whose nuclear sites were struck by the U.S. last year before the U.S. and Israel launched a war on February 28, Mr. Grossi told UN member nations that the necessary technical work for a diplomatic agreement has been done.

“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. “IAEA inspectors must be able to return to Iran expeditiously. That requires a return to the negotiating table.”

In North Korea, where leader Kim Jong Un has a growing nuclear programme without any IAEA oversight, Mr. Grossi warned that it “stands as a stark reminder of the consequences when red lines are crossed” in violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning nuclear weapons production.

In Ukraine, he singled out the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, saying it remains “in a precarious position” with frequent power losses, limited back-up diesel supplies “and military activity threatening the plant and the people who work there”.

On a positive note, Mr. Grossi said the IAEA has made “significant progress” in clarifying and resolving outstanding questions regarding Syria’s nuclear activities after nearly two decades of uncertainty. That is as a result of engaging with the government of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, he said.

He reported in September that the Bashar al-Assad-era government — which was ousted in December 2024 by opposition forces led by al-Sharaa — was constructing a nuclear reactor that was configured to produce fissile material for possible use in nuclear weapons.