By Abraham Went
It’s quite paradoxical that the most capable technologies in world history (AI, nuclear energy, and quantum computing) revived a three-centuries-old policy response: mercantilism. Today, national self-interest has taken precedence over global cooperation. China and the United States are in a technological arms race where narrow inputs are considered strategic assets.
The Commerce Department, for example, has proposed $1 billion in support for an IBM quantum-foundry subsidiary and took a 10% equity stake in Intel, while the administration has directed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to accelerate nuclear reactor licensing.
Today, the United States may have a chance to address several of these narrow inputs at once. One reactor design now entering NRC review would generate power for data centers while producing a byproduct that both quantum computing and nuclear fusion require.
Though its approval is far from certain, the CANDU nuclear reactor offers America an opportunity to secure strategic bottlenecks before they become catastrophic chokepoints. America should therefore test CANDU because it provides a second nuclear-fuel pathway while potentially converting an existing heavy-water stockpile into electricity and strategic isotope capacity.
What is CANDU?
CANDU is a heavy water nuclear reactor, using natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as a coolant and moderator. It is fundamentally different from every commercial reactor operating in the U.S., which all use enriched uranium and light water. Thirty-four CANDU units have been built globally, accumulating nearly 1,000 reactor-years of experience across Canada, Argentina, China, and South Korea.
Since CANDU is a heavy water reactor, as it generates electricity, it also produces a strategic byproduct: tritium. Neutron absorption creates tritium in the reactor’s heavy water. Tritium is the principal fuel pursued by deuterium-tritium fusion developers.
Tritium also decays into helium-3. Helium-3 has no known substitute in dilution refrigeration, the cooling technology used by superconducting quantum computers.
An American CANDU reactor would help produce electricity for AI and a civilian supply of supply-constrained strategic isotopes that would mitigate a potential supply disaster.
CANDU’s third attempt
In late June 2026, AtkinsRéalis filed a notice of intent with the NRC to begin pre-application licensing for the Enhanced CANDU 6 Nuclear Reactor in the United States.
However, this is the third attempt to bring CANDU into the United States. Earlier attempts, in 1989 and 2002, did not advance past pre-application, since both reviews had to reconcile CANDU’s heavy water design within a US regulatory framework that was largely developed around light-water reactors.
What has changed in America’s nuclear power landscape?
Global data center electricity demand grew 17% in 2025, with AI-focused facilities driving most of that demand. Nuclear power emerged as a mechanism to meet this surge in demand.
The US federal government catalyzed that emergence. Executive Order 14300 directed the NRC to establish an eighteen-month deadline for final decisions on new-reactor applications. The ADVANCE Act reduced licensing costs and directs the agency to make reviews more efficient, while Part 53 establishes a technology-inclusive framework for new designs.
On July 22, the Department of Energy requested industry input for the reuse of up to 530,000 gallons of heavy water currently stored at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. CANDU could use that stockpile directly, roughly requiring 470 metric tonnes (about 112,000 U.S. gallons). Once loaded, the heavy water is continuously recycled rather than consumed as fuel. Despite some operating losses and replacement supplies, the Savannah River inventory could theoretically support the initial reactor load for the foreseeable future.
On August 4, Aternium announced its site for the first US commercial heavy water and electrolytic hydrogen production facility. Even though construction and production have not yet begun, the announcement represents the beginnings of a potential domestic supply chain.
The strategic value assigned to nuclear energy is the strongest in years. The regulatory environment is more efficient. America is starting to produce heavy water domestically. The infrastructure for CANDU is being built.
Why America needs CANDU
AtkinsRéalis advertises a total project time of 69 months. That estimate does not include the multi-year American licensing process, which is only beginning. Additionally, no authoritative U.S. cost estimate exists, and first-of-a-kind licensing, supply chain development, and financing would likely make the initial reactor significantly more expensive than a traditional U.S. light-water reactor.
Even if CANDU is approved, the first reactor is unlikely to operate before the mid-2030s. It cannot single-handedly solve AI’s immediate demand for power, nor should it become the first step toward replacing the American light-water fleet.
America should instead test one CANDU because it would provide a second nuclear-fuel pathway, put an existing heavy-water inventory to strategic use, add power during the 2030s, and produce tritium and helium-3 domestically.
CANDU is a 2030s hedge against today’s bottlenecks becoming tomorrow’s supply crisis.
Abraham Went is studying physics and economics at the University of Chicago. He is the co-founder of 6:05 Markets, which provides independent market research from students at the University of Chicago. He worked at Qorvis in the summer of 2026.
