The legacy media largely ignores nuclear energy while relentlessly promoting an energy transition from oil and coal to renewables. However, even tech titans and some of the largest investment management firms will soon have to acknowledge the necessity of nuclear energy, Nano Nuclear Energy CEO James Walker said.

On Aug. 1, MRC Free Speech America sat down for an exclusive interview with Walker, who pointed out that there is a massive need to expand energy production even though the legacy media is ignoring it. Walker noted that the energy requirements for data centers and generative artificial intelligence (AI) “are becoming essentially city-size now,” and that the growth of these technologies could become limited by a tech company’s ability of companies to provide power for them. 

“So the Microsofts of the world, the Googles, the Facebooks—they're looking at nuclear solutions now to power these facilities,” Walker stated. He provided the example OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backing Oklo Inc., a nuclear energy company. Walker said that Altman is probably interested in nuclear energy due to the energy needs of tech and  AI centers, “things he’s working on currently.”

Walker heads Nano Nuclear Energy, which focuses on producing small modular reactors, 40-foot power sources that can be transported to power local communities, including very isolated areas.  

Nuclear Energy: A Solution to Imminent Demands?

Walker went on to explain that existing energy sources cannot power American cities while also supporting this rapidly increasing industrial demand. “And, if you're drawing down as much power as a city, you either steal all that power from the city or you have to build your own systems. And it's looking very likely that the tech industry is gonna have to go in that direction and build its own power system so it's self-sufficient and doesn't need to, draw as much power as Las Vegas.” 

During the interview, Walker also responded to the anti-nuclear bias of leftist billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his media empire. In April 2024, Bloomberg published its 2023 Impact Report, which repeatedly mentioned renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal energy, but lacked any mentions of nuclear energy. 

The ESG Assault

Bloomberg has claimed credit for closing numerous coal plants, blocking 34 new natural gas plants and slapping ESG ratings on thousands of companies. Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Associate Katrina White has even admitted that she expects activists to use these ratings to pressure companies to abide by woke commitments on environmental issues.

But later in the interview, Walker was confident that even Bloomberg would eventually come around. He predicted that the world “could only ignore reality for so long.” 

Walker said, “I think we've ignored it up to the point of now where everyone is coming back to it and even the tech centers. Even Bloomberg will have to accept even if they want to move into renewables other than nuclear, that’s going to have to be a big part of the energy conversation.”

When asked whether ESG-obsessed titans such as BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street would also eventually come around, Walker noted that billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates is already investing in nuclear energy. Walker said that others will follow and warned that those who do not will greatly regret it. 

He said, “They’re going to go in hot like they don’t really have much choice. These things will be generating a lot of power. It’s a massive industry that’s waiting there, trillion-dollar industry. If they don’t get involved, they would completely undermine their business model.” 

National Consequences of Falling Behind on Nuclear

Walker also suggested that people could be discouraged by a number of misconceptions such as concerns over nuclear waste storage. He said that all the nuclear waste ever created in the nation’s history would fit in a football field.

Walker warned that the country could fall behind China in soft-power projection if it does not embrace nuclear energy production. This, he stated, would limit America’s technological advancement, less economic growth and could lead to a loss of energy sovereignty.

He pointed to Germany as an example of a country that had walked this road. “[Germany has] a very powerful green lobby, that pushed them to shut down nuclear to pursue other renewables. But actually, they could never, get the capacity, to substitute it for their loss of nuclear power,” Walker said. He went on to mention that Germany was forced to buy coal-generated power from Poland, nuclear-generated power from France and natural gas from Russia. 

Walker mentioned that Germany’s use of Russian gas majorly limited Germany’s foreign policy choices, warning, “And that's just an example of how a country lost energy sovereignty, by moving away from nuclear.”

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