> I don't see why rich nations[1] don't simply subsidize mass nuclear energy production as state policy

> Honestly probably only really viable in China and the U.S. plus maybe South Korea

Because it costs a lot of money.

For example, India quietly (by HN and Reddit standards) passed a nuclear energy megabill in December which has a TAM of $214 Billion [0]. French (EDF), American (Westinghouse, Holtec, GE Vernova Hitachi), Russian (Rosatom), and Korean (Hyundai) JVs with Indian Public (NPTC, BHEL) and Private (Tata, L&T, Jindal Group) players are now able to build and distribute nuclear energy without dealing with an older SOE and can subsidize the buildout [1] using Green Bonds, which gives them access to around $56 Billion in capital [2] with an added .

These players will also be eligible for India's $2.5 Billion SMR subsidy [3]. This also helps India's $160 Billion data center buildout [4] which is being subsidized by the Indian government [5], and piggybacks on India's $205 Billion infrastructure buildout [6].

Other countries can do that as well, but if they are fine spending tens to hundreds of billions of dollars - that's where the blocker arises, but most of the players with this technology are now backlogged with orders from this buildout in India and other existing and in-progress buildouts.

> outside of petrostates, which have the whole petro thing going on

The UAE [7] is participating in financing India's nuclear buildout as part of their defense pact.

[0] - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-08/india-see...

[1] - https://powermin.gov.in/sites/default/files/Seeking_comments...

[2] - https://www.climatebonds.net/news-events/press-room/press-re...

[3] - https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/india-energy-small...

[4] - https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2227953&re...

[5] - https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/01/india-offers-zero-taxes-th...

[6] - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-06-12/india-...

[7] - https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/india-uae-annou...