By: Stan Wilczek, Jr., PE – swilczek@twcny.rr.com In late 2023 at the 28th annual United Nations climate meeting where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for future climate change, the United States and 21 other countries determined that the world cannot sufficiently decarbonize without a large increase in nuclear energy. They called for the tripling of nuclear power by 2050. For the United States that would mean building 200 large scale nuclear plants in the next 25 years. Nuclear powers growth has been largely stagnant in the United States for decades. Over the last 30 years more than a dozen operating nuclear plants have been shut down while utilities attempted to build four new plants. Two of the plants, completed in 2023 and 2024, took twice as long to build and cost more than doubled. The other two plants also experienced construction delays and cost overruns and were eventually abandoned, but not before the utility had spent $9 Billion on the project. This seminar will review the history of nuclear power in the United States and summarize the difficulties of meeting the goals to expand its use.