"Nuclear energy is about to usher in a "spring"? It is rumored that 14 global financial giants will openly support the development of nuclear energy."

According to reports, the 14 largest banks and financial institutions globally will commit to increasing their support for nuclear energy to unlock financing for the industry. The report stated that on Monday, at an event in New York with White House climate policy adviser John Podesta, institutions including Bank of America Corp, Barclays PLC, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. are expected to announce their support for the goal of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which aims to double global nuclear energy capacity by 2025. Experts believe that given the key role nuclear energy can play in transitioning to low-carbon energy to mitigate the impacts of climate change, public support for nuclear energy has been long awaited. Historically, there has been a divergence of opinions among banks regarding the prospects of nuclear energy, due to the complexity and risks associated with project financing, as well as questions about whether such investments align with Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) standards. France's BNP Paribas cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations stating that achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 would be "impossible" without nuclear power. Barclays PLC believes nuclear energy can address the intermittent nature of wind power and CECEP Solar Energy. AI aspirations depend on nuclear power As technology companies seek more power to supply data centers and drive their artificial intelligence ambitions, nuclear energy is seen as a possible path forward. For example, Microsoft Corporation recently signed a 20-year power supply agreement with Constellation Energy to revive a unit at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, ensuring its power supply for decades. Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez stated in an interview, "Policymakers and the market have had a big wake-up call. The future of this country depends on these nuclear assets." Since early 2023, Constellation has been working on restarting its nuclear power plants, evaluating whether it was necessary to restart reactors. By early this year, Constellation had concluded it wanted to proceed with the project and started discussions with potential customers. Dominguez mentioned that Microsoft Corporation was immediately interested. Microsoft Corporation's Vice President of Energy, Bobby Hollis, said in an interview that purchasing nuclear power will help Microsoft Corporation achieve its goal of fully powering its vast global data center network with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. by 2025. These nuclear energies will be used for data center expansions in locations such as Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Microsoft Corporation is not the only tech company looking to utilize nuclear energy to drive its AI ambitions. Earlier this year, Amazon.com's cloud computing department agreed to invest $650 million to acquire a data center campus connected to a 40-year-old nuclear power plant located on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. Nuclear energy on the brink of a "spring"? Meanwhile, fund managers at several asset management companies also see huge potential in nuclear energy. Companies such as Robeco Institutional Asset Management, J O Hambro Capital Management, and Janus Henderson Investors believe that nuclear energy-related stocks play a role in their investment portfolios. "We used to be much more cautious and exclusionary in the past," said Chris Berkouwer, lead manager of Robeco's Net Zero 2050 Climate Equities Fund, "but it's now clear that nuclear energy is an 'essential part' of cutting greenhouse gas emissions." According to BlackRock Investment Institute, nuclear energy is seen as part of the energy mix needed for the large data centers being constructed by the technology industry. Alastair Bishop, Global Head of Sustainable Core Investments and Portfolio Manager at BlackRock Investment Institute, stated at a media briefing in July, "With the growth of AI adoption, power demand could double by the end of this decade, or even quadruple. This will have far-reaching implications for the power market." Robert Lancastle, portfolio manager at J O Hambro, stated that without nuclear energy, the world is unlikely to have enough energy to support the continued development of artificial intelligence.