And not only here in the U.S., either.

France’s GDF Suez (GSZ:Paris), newly-formed energy group, and Spain’s Iberdrola (IBE:Madrid) just announced that they will join forces to build nuclear plants in the United Kingdom… As have German companies RWE and E.ON (EOA:Hamburg).

But friendly European countries teaming up to build nuclear power plants isn’t the only card in play. Nuclear energy is on the table in Russia, China, and Iran.

German company Siemens (SI:NYSE) is expected to partner with Rosatom in Russia to invest $45 million in a transformer factory. The two companies are hoping to partner on more projects, too, in both Russia and Germany, and also in other countries.

China is well on track to double its nuclear power capacity over the next ten years. In 2009 alone, the country expects to add 8.4 gigawatts-worth of nuclear power plants. In fact, China is investing about $84.8 billion in the power industry this year. Technology will come from “third-generation nuclear power technologies, such as the AP100 developed by the United States-based Westinghouse Electric Co,” said Fu Manchang, secretary-general of the Chinese Nuclear Society, to China.org.

With so much development on the nuclear energy agenda, it should come as no surprise that the geopolitical eye has once again fixed itself of Iran, and the posibility of its nuclear weapons program.

Today, representatives from five permanent member countries of the UN Security council met to talk about diplomacy and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Yesterday, it became public that Iran had launched its first home-built satellite. This means that long-range weapons and the ability to fire ballistic missiles are fast becoming a reality.

This has folks a little edgy, as many people believe that if Iran gains nuclear weapons, and has the ability to fire long-range missiles, it might attack Israel.

But the UN Security council is encouraged by the new U.S. administration’s “willingness… to engage in talks with Iran.”

That won’t make the job any less hard, and if indeed Iran capitulates to every demand in order to pursue a peaceful nuclear energy program, would the UN Security council actually sanction the move? How can it not when China is pouring money into nuclear energy programs, and when Russia, our old Cold War enemy who is still dismantling its nuclear bombs, is partnering with Western companies to develop plants?

If we’re ready to negotiate, we’d better be ready for a nuclear Iran… even if it’s just to generate electricity, not bombs.

Source: Nuclear Energy Back on the Table

Several of the EU’s newer member states are currently holding bids for new plants. And having a clean and reliable energy source will spur industrial growth in the region, creating attractive investment opportunities in the process.

More from Sara with the countries most likely to benefit from this new energy drive…

The word nuclear stirs up all kinds of fears nowadays… Everything from Chernobyl to Iran comes to mind, and the fallout is – in my opinion – mostly political. So what does it say when nine countries in central and southeast Europe take up the atom?

We’ve heard that China wants to build 30 new nuclear reactors over the next 15 years, and now news has hit the public that Russia will spend $40 billion to boost its nuclear power sector over the next seven years…

But have you heard that Turkey, long-pressed by an energy shortage, has plans to build three nuclear plants? By September 24, it will close the call for bids to build the first nuclear plant in the country.

Turkey’s not alone either. Albania wants Italy’s Enel (BIT:ENEL)(ENLAY.PK) to build a nuclear plant on its soil. Poland is in the running to build a 3,200 MW facility in neighboring Lithuania.

The list goes on…

There are some interesting names floating around, too. You’ve got your regulars: Areva (EPA:CEI) and Siemens (SI:NYSE). But then you’ve got the Czech Republic’s power group, CEZ (ISIN: CZ0005112300), who’s planning two new units in the country… Germany’s RWE AG (ISIN: DE0007037129), who’s bidding on a plant Bulgaria and another in Romania… Belgium’s Electrabel (ELBSB:Brussells), owned by France’s GDF Suez (EPA:GSZ) is also bidding on the Bulgarian and Romanian plants… and Spain’s Iberdrola (IBE:Madrid) is a candidate for the Romanian plant.

For this region as a whole, cheap and reliable power means greater productivity and industrial growth. It’s the cornerstone of stellar GDP growth, and there will be some nice jumps over the next eight to twelve quarters, particularly for the Czech Republic and Romania. Keep an eye on Turkey and Slovakia as well…

Source: The Eastern Nuclear Bloc