Posted on June 5, 2025 by Jake Kincer and Bryson Roberson
Global demand for reliable, affordable and clean energy is, as Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said, fundamentally about opportunity. The U.S. needs sufficient power to drive new AI demand and power our digital economy. In Poland, it’s about securing energy independence from Russia. In African countries, where 600 million people live without electricity, it's about fighting extreme poverty. The Trump Administration has strong ambitions to accelerate U.S. energy dominance, support energy security in our allies, and use energy to drive economic growth and prosperity in developing countries.
Yet, as the world works to deploy new energy infrastructure, the World Bank, one of the largest sources of infrastructure finance, is running on an outdated energy policy. Between a total ban on supporting nuclear energy and a broad reticence to support natural gas infrastructure, the World Bank should take a hard look at how its policies align with global trends. Luckily, after pressure from its largest shareholder (the United States), World Bank President Ajay Banga promised a revamp of the Bank’s energy policy.
This isn’t just about clean energy or development, but a U.S. strategic imperative. Despite its $40 billion energy and extractives portfolio, the Bank lacks any engagement on nuclear energy, leaving a vacuum filled by competitors like Russia and China, whose exploitative financing creates long-term dependencies. For example, in 2023, an Egyptian presidential advisor told a group of U.S. lawmakers and a ClearPath delegation that countries like hers want dependable energy financing and would welcome American or allied investment. Instead, Egypt, a Major Non-NATO Ally of the U.S., selected Russia’s Rosatom to finance and construct its new nuclear plant, because there wasn’t another option.
This is a major market opportunity for the U.S. The American nuclear industry supports 250,000 jobs, and a recent Trump administration Executive Order set a goal of quadrupling U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050. The International Energy Agency projects that global investment in the nuclear sector could grow to over $100 billion annually by 2030. Capturing part of this market would align with the four executive orders aimed at reinvigorating the U.S. nuclear industry, and getting the World Bank engaged on nuclear energy would help enable this goal by providing more financing options to meet the growing demand around the world for new nuclear.
The first step for the World Bank could be a dedicated Nuclear Energy Trust Fund, a concept supported by bipartisan, bicameral legislation currently working its way through Congress. Such a trust fund would involve low total dollar amounts while helping the World Bank begin to build technological and analytical capacity on the burgeoning nuclear industry to advise its member countries better.
Regardless of whether or not the World Bank makes a policy change, the U.S. must be prepared to capitalize on this global market. This means strengthening America’s financing entities, such as the Export–Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, which can promote U.S. exports. It also means ensuring that Department of Energy-supported demonstration programs are completed and that private industry can begin scaling up economically viable advanced reactors.
