The US nuclear industry has hailed 2022 as an “inflection point”, with surging private investment and unprecedented government support breathing new life into a sector that fell from favour in recent decades.

New federal legislation enacted in the past 18 months will pump about $40bn into the sector over the coming decade, according to industry estimates, while roughly $5bn in private funds has flowed into companies designing new types of reactor in the past year alone.

“It’s a really great investor environment — both publicly and privately,” said Ryan Norman, analyst at energy think-tank Third Way. “There’s federal recognition that nuclear energy technologies have a key role to play in the US energy future,” he said. “No matter how you cut it, we’re talking about billions of dollars being poured into these advanced reactor companies.”