Executing the Nuclear Buildout: Takeaways from NECX 2026

Key Takeaways

Rob Kaderavek and Andreas Germaschewski of Baird’s Power & Infrastructure team   recently attended the second annual Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX 2026) in Dallas, Texas, cohosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute. The industry’s focus at this time is squarely centered on execution: getting more out of the existing fleet, restarting large reactor construction, modernizing analog plants and building a supply chain and workforce that can absorb the demand. The mood was captured in the industry's own shorthand – “meet the moment."

1. The NRC as Enabler – From "Not the Problem" to Accelerator
   
   The regulatory posture that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) framed earlier in the year as a shifting "strike zone" was confirmed at NECX. NRC Chair Nieh opened by saying a new NRC has emerged, "one that's enabling and accelerating the safe and secure deployment of new nuclear technologies and expanding existing capacity."

• • No longer the bottleneck: Nieh noted that "a message I've been hearing consistently over the last several months is the NRC is no longer seen as the problem." Participants expect a heavy flow of new initiatives to be published over the coming year.
  • Aligning rules to actual risk: The agency is "advancing safety-focused, enabling regulation by aligning requirements with actual risks and operational needs, by adapting the regulatory frameworks for new technologies and adding regulatory flexibility where safety is maintained."
  • Demonstrated throughput: Nieh cited draft rules published in the Federal Register, two subsequent license renewals issued on an accelerated timetable and X-energy and TVA construction permit reviews on track for completion by year-end.
  • The burden shifts to industry: Rules reduce regulatory risk but converting them into projects is now the industry's job. "When America is ready to move forward with more commercial applications, we're ready to deliver," Nieh concluded.

2. Maximizing the Existing Fleet — The Nearest-Term Megawatts
   
   The first panel of the conference focused squarely on getting the most out of the existing fleet, with Vistra, NextEra Energy, STP, American Electric Power and Constellation represented.

• • Major levers available to the industry: 24-month fuel cycles, subsequent license renewals, power uprates and restarts of shuttered units.
  • Tailwinds: Load growth, bipartisan support, an enabling NRC and tax credits are all in place.
  • Constraints remain: Craft labor, supply chain and knowledge drain – retirees increasingly used as a lever to backfill experience cannot become a long-term solution.

3. Large Reactors Are Back — Repeatability Over Novelty
   
   The most notable shift over prior years was the return of gigawatt-scale nuclear to the center of the conversation; three years ago, the discussion was almost entirely about SMRs.

• • AP1000 as "LMR": Panelists reframed the AP1000 as a large modular reactor — a fully licensed design with proven construction experience and therefore not principally a long-lead-time design problem.
  • Nth-of-a-kind economics: The case rests on programmatic delivery — building enough units in sequence to capture next-of-a-kind efficiencies. France's standardization program, which delivered nearly one large reactor per quarter over 15 years, was the reference point.
  • The delivery triangle: Integration of OEM, EPC and government is viewed as the structural precondition for cost certainty.
  • Cost levers: Early ordering of long-lead components, digital construction tools and workforce management.
  • Open items: Uncertainty around investor appetite for construction risk, which panelists identified as the binding constraint on new build.

4. Digital I&C — A Large, Underappreciated Retrofit Cycle
   
   Essentially all instrumentation and controls in the legacy U.S. fleet remain analog, and obsolete parts that can no longer be ordered are creating material operating inefficiencies.

• • From "if" to "when": Five years ago, the question was whether to pursue digital I&C; today it is a question of timing and sequencing.
  • Only the newest units are modern: Vogtle 3 and 4 are the sole digitally instrumented units in the domestic fleet and are safer and more efficient as a result.
  • The value case: Digital conversion improves efficiency, eliminates obsolescence exposure and allows cybersecurity to be maintained on a supported architecture.
  • Regulatory unlock: The ADVANCE Act, Executive Order 14300 and the NRC's revised mission focus are what make the pipeline actionable.
  • Scale and collision risk: Roughly 160 digital upgrades are planned across the fleet,  all competing directly with new builds for the same components and craft labor.

5. Supply Chain — Longer Horizons, Structural Scarcity
   
   The supply chain remains the industry's most persistent constraint: nuclear is bidding for the same components and trades as the broader power buildout.

• • Cross-sector competition: Rapid buildout plus demand from other power sectors is producing shortages in critical parts and extended lead times.
  • Adaptation: Operators and EPCs are moving to materially longer planning horizons and earlier commitment on long-lead items.
  • Where the demand lands: Maintenance, engineering and other nuclear services companies are in significant demand — arguably the clearest near-term commercial beneficiaries of the buildout.

6. AI Has Arrived in Nuclear
   
   AI moved from a curiosity to a near-term operational agenda item, with the industry signaling readiness to adopt at scale rather than pilot indefinitely. The highest-value applications discussed were reactor core optimization, knowledge retention and transfer (a direct response to the aging workforce) and supply chain optimization — the three areas where efficiency and speed gains compound against the constraints above.

What This Means

The nuclear industry appears to have fully arrived in a new age. Regulation is no longer the industry's self-identified bottleneck; capital formation, supply chain capacity, and craft labor are. For investors and operators, that redirects attention toward the picks-and-shovels and broader service layer — nuclear maintenance and engineering services, certified component manufacturing, digital I&C and cyber, AI and workforce and operation productivity technology — where demand is already contracted and competition for capacity is intensifying across the fleet.

Baird’s Power & Infrastructure team brings deep sector expertise and a global perspective to support clients as the next generation of nuclear technology moves from policy to reality. We welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation.