Mykhailo Pyrtko – Law, Energy, and International Investment Insights

  How artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of nuclear energy 1. Introduction: Nuclear's Second Wind Nuclear energy occupies a paradoxical position in the twenty-first century energy landscape. Once heralded as the technology that would deliver limitless, clean electricity, it fell into prolonged disrepute following the accidents at Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986), and Fukushima (2011). Decades of regulatory tightening, cost overruns, and public mistrust combined to stall new construction across much of the Western world. Yet today, a remarkable reversal is underway. A confluence of pressures - accelerating climate commitments, surging electricity demand driven by data centres and electrification, and growing recognition that intermittent renewables alone cannot guarantee baseload power - has rehabilitated nuclear in the eyes of governments, investors, and technologists alike. In 2023, the COP28 declaration called for a tripling of global nuclear capacity...

  For decades, Australia's economy has been fundamentally underpinned by large-scale extraction and export of fossil fuels. The country consistently ranks among the world's top three exporters of coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), historically supplying the basic energy needs of Asia's largest industrial economies. Yet today, Australia's energy sector is undergoing the most sweeping structural transformation in its history. The transition from carbon-based generation to renewable energy sources on the green continent is often viewed exclusively through the lens of global climate commitments and international emissions reduction targets. However, an analysis of current investment flows and government strategies tells a different story: for Australia, large-scale decarbonisation is above all a pragmatic economic calculation. Recognising the inevitable long-term decline in global demand for conventional hydrocarbons, both the Australian government and the private se...