If I know what a person thinks about nuclear power, I might have some useful insights into their technological risk tolerance and whether or not they view technology as a powerful tool to solve big problems. At a time when a cluster of new technologies—artificial intelligence, genetic editing, reusable rockets, advances in nuclear and geothermal energy—seems to be popping, a more risk-tolerant public would be helpful. After all, accidents and failures are bound to happen. But we can keep moving forward if the country is more fixated on benefits than costs.

It’s good news, then, that support for nuclear is growing among the American people. A Pew Research poll last month found 56 percent of us favor more nuclear power plants to generate electricity, up from 43 percent in 2020. The National Nuclear Energy Public Opinion Survey, conducted in May, found that 77 percent favored using nuclear energy for electricity in the USA, a record high.

Given public opinion, maybe it’s not surprising that nuclear energy may benefit no matter who wins the presidential election in November. Last week, Donald Trump announced plans to reduce electricity costs by quickly approving new power plants and promoting small modular reactors for nuclear energy. As a campaign surrogate put it, the former president will

support nuclear energy production by modernizing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, working to keep existing power plants open and investing in innovative small modular reactors. … President Trump will fully modernize the electric grid to prepare it for the next 100 years, implement rapid approvals for energy projects, and greenlight the construction of hundreds of new power plants to pave the way for an enormous growth in American wealth.

Kamala Harris hasn’t been so definite, but analysts think she would also be supportive by continuing the pro-nuclear policies contained in the Inflation Reduction Act, including various production and investment tax credits. In “Nuclear revival’ priced into a potential Harris administration,” the Financial Times points out that if Harris wins, a likely Republican-controlled Senate would block major climate legislation. Moreover, recent Supreme Court rulings have limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority on climate regulations, making agency-led climate action more difficult. This shifts the focus to Congress, “and that means Harris will need to find climate policies that have bipartisan support—like nuclear power,” one investment analyst told the Financial Times.

This is all very encouraging, especially when you add in the declining political support for severe limitations on AI due to fear of science-fictional threats. The combination of more energy and more intelligence is what made the modern world and will help make a better world tomorrow. As I’ve recently written:

The formula: Better energy harvesting (allowing societies to do more work and support more people) + improved information processing (allowing societies to use that energy more effectively and to coordinate more complex social structures) = greater complexity (which manifests in various ways such as larger populations, more diverse occupations, more advanced technologies, and more intricate social organizations).

The Industrial Revolution? Not just about coal. Not merely the story of steam and iron. It was about blueprints. About knowledge. About turning potential into power, ideas into reality. It was the marriage of energy and information, giving birth to a new world. Coal became available, yes, but it was the creation of “blueprints” for technologies like steam engines that truly revolutionized society. (To that I would add: the freedom to innovate and reap the rewards of entrepreneurship.)

And if we combine more compute with lots of clean energy, and then add in a dollop of techno-optimism? America’s economic engine may be gearing up for its next great leap forward.

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