Gerstner states US nuclear deployment costs are limited by regulation, not technology, creating gap with China.
“our cost of deploying new nuclear fission infrastructure is limited by our own regulatory framework, not by the technology.”
Gerstner notes Amazon bought land near nuclear facility while 30-35% US production comes from independent sellers.
“And, once again, according to Phil, about 35%, 30% of the production in The US is from independent energy producers who who basically sell to whoever they decide they want to sell to.”
Gerstner argues people would be more excited about nuclear fission if discovered today than they are about AI.
“if World War II never happened, the atomic bomb never happened, and someone just showed up in 2024 and said, I figured out this thing, it's nuclear fission, people would be like, oh my god, like, probably be more excited than you are about AI.”
Gerstner states China adds six to eight reactors yearly and will surpass US nuclear production by 2030.
“China who's adding six to eight new fission reactors per year, it's gonna add upwards of 25 or 30 over the course of the next, you know, five or six years, is expected to surpass The United States in nuclear power production by 2,030.”
Gerstner notes South Korea and China build reactors using US Westinghouse technology acquired through tech transfer licenses.
“both the South Koreans and the Chinese, right, are building on technology that they procured from The United States, from Westinghouse, under tech transfer licenses over the course of the past, you know, twenty or thirty years.”
Gerstner reports Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft are all moving forward with nuclear-powered data center projects.
“Amazon is buying this nuclear powered Talon data center facility, and now Microsoft this week announces with CEG that they're going to bring 3 Mile Island out of retirement.”
Gerstner contrasts China building 350 nuclear reactors versus zero in the US.
“there are 350 nuclear reactors under fission reactors under construction in China. How many in The US?”
Gerstner highlights US fission reactors cost four to five times more and none are being built.
“Why does it cost us four to five times to build a fission reactor in this country? Why are we building no nuclear reactors in this country?”