Nuclear Innovation Alliance

About Us

The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) is a non-profit think tank working to enable nuclear power as a global solution to mitigate climate change. Through policy analysis, research, and education, we are catalyzing the next era of nuclear energy. Our organization is funded primarily through charitable grants and philanthropic donations from climate-concerned individuals and organizations.

Our Mission

Bring more economically competitive zero-carbon emission energy to the world by supporting entrepreneurialism and accelerated innovation and commercialization of advanced nuclear energy.

Our Team

Our team is passionate about clean energy and leaving the world better than we found it. We celebrate and value diversity and are committed to building an inclusive organization. We have backgrounds in technology, policy, law, and social sciences, and seek to combine our strengths with the input of other stakeholders and experts to make positive change.

Our Strategy

Nuclear energy is a technology and an expansive scientific field that after many years of limited advancements has tremendous potential today for innovation. A tradition of deep and extensive research into the development of nuclear energy is now combining with decades of progress from other technological fields in order to create new ventures and make up for decades of lost time. For nuclear innovation to thrive and serve global energy and environmental goals, both private and public investment in nuclear energy development and deployment must be robust. Those investments will only be made if three important criteria are met:

• There is a clear pathway to a growing market that will attract private investment;
• There is a credible case to earn public investment; and
• There is public support for the use of nuclear power.

The NIA works towards fulfillment of these three criteria through:

• technically-informed action research that features recommended policies, programs, and funding, as well as opportunities for innovation.
• support of entrepreneurialism through the Nuclear Innovation Bootcamp.
• improving discourse on nuclear energy through speaking, presentations, and direct engagement with diverse stakeholders.
• providing educational information to policymakers, investors, and engaged members of the public.

Project Areas

The NIA’s main project areas directly support the strategy and are organized by the three criteria above.

• Path to a Growing Market:
  • Development of clear, efficient, and effective regulatory processes through improvements to current practice
  • Development of strategies for international licensing harmonization to support rapid deployment at scale necessary to address climate change
  • Identification of challenges to nuclear energy use in emerging economies, to be followed by the development of strategies to address those challenges
  • Identification of nonproliferation challenges and opportunities associated with advanced reactors and recommendations for addressing them
  • Investor and customer education through provision of useful materials for learning more about the advanced nuclear industry and technology
• Public Investment in Advanced Nuclear:
  • Development of sensible research, development, and demonstration policy that maximizes results without waste of taxpayer funds
  • Educational briefings and outreach to provide information on advanced nuclear energy
  • Regular testimony upon request
• Public Support for the Use of Nuclear Power:
  • Providing unbiased, useful information about advanced nuclear on the NIA website and through speaking engagements
  • Technical support for organizations focused on public communication
  • Responses to media requests for information and input
  • Engagement with environmental and public interest organizations to seek common ground and common understanding