The Iran war’s disruption of global energy supplies is prompting Asian and African nations to rapidly expand nuclear power generation, both by increasing output at existing reactors and by launching ambitious long-term plans to build new plants across the regions hardest hit by the conflict.
While nuclear power is no quick fix for the current energy crisis, the shift signals a major reorientation in how developing nations plan to guard against future fossil fuel shocks — a calculation driven by months of soaring energy costs and, in some cases, widespread power shortages.
The Immediate Response
Asia, most exposed to Middle Eastern energy supplies, has been hit hardest and fastest by the Iran war’s energy disruption. Most immediately, countries with existing nuclear plants are working to extract more power from them. South Korea is increasing generation at its reactors and rushing maintenance at five offline units, with restarts planned for May. Japan, which restarted the world’s largest nuclear plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, in January, has signed a $40 billion reactor deal with the United States and a nuclear fuel recycling agreement with France. Taiwan is considering a years-long process to restart two mothballed reactors.
In South Asia, Bangladesh is racing to turn on new reactors built by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom, hoping to supply 300 megawatts to the national grid by summer. Vietnam signed a deal with Moscow in March for two Russian-designed reactors. The Philippines, which recently declared a national energy emergency, is exploring revival of a nuclear plant built in the 1970s but never operational.
Africa’s Strategic Shift
The energy crisis is driving a deeper reorientation in Africa’s long-term planning. Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa have publicly affirmed their commitment to nuclear power as a strategic necessity. Kenya plans to bring a small modular reactor online in 2034. South Africa, which operates the continent’s only nuclear plants, aims to increase nuclear’s share of its energy mix from about 5 percent to 16 percent by 2040.
At a March summit convened by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Africa will be “one of the most important global markets” for smaller reactors in the years ahead. Ghana, one of the few African nations to join an American-led modular reactor initiative, aims to begin building a nuclear plant in 2027.
The Great Power Competition
The shift is unfolding amid intensifying geopolitical competition. Russia’s Rosatom is building Egypt’s first reactor and has cooperation agreements spanning major projects, research centers and training programs with Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Tanzania and Niger. The United States, progressing more slowly, jointly sponsored a nuclear conference with South Korea in Nairobi and conducted outreach to African nations, with the State Department saying Washington is working with African countries to develop secure civil nuclear reactors.
Why Nuclear Isn’t a Quick Fix
Yet nuclear power offers no immediate relief. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, 31 countries currently use nuclear power, which provides about 10 percent of global electricity. Another 40 nations are either considering nuclear technology or preparing to build plants. Developing atomic energy takes decades, especially for countries without existing nuclear programs. Small modular reactors, which proponents tout as faster alternatives to large-scale plants, typically require years from planning to operation.
Safety concerns persist alongside these timelines. Nuclear plants are vulnerable during armed conflict—reactors have been specifically targeted during the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The industry also carries risks of meltdowns and mismanaged waste. Advocates for renewable energy argue that solar and wind power make more sense than nuclear for both cost and energy security, offering faster deployment without the waste or weapons proliferation risks that nuclear technology carries.
The war, though, has shifted how nations calculate risk. For Asian and African nations dependent on imported fossil fuels, the current crisis illustrates their vulnerability to market shocks and supply disruptions. Long-term commitments to nuclear power made now will likely shape countries’ energy systems for decades, locking in atomic generation as a core component of future electricity supplies.