Sweden recently rolled back a longstanding ban on nuclear power as concerns over climate change and energy security are causing European countries to rethink their nuclear power policies.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Slovakia and Bulgaria recently sought EU permission to restart old reactors of Soviet design after a dispute between Russia and Ukraine brought supplies of natural gas to Eastern Europe to a halt. Italy, Poland and the U.K. are also seeing a resurgence in interest in nuclear power.
Globally, the future for nuclear power looks bright. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency is predicting that the share of nuclear power in global electricity production will rise from 16% today to 22% by 2050.
The PowerShares Global Nuclear Energy Portfolio (PKN) owns globally traded companies which are engaged in the nuclear energy industry with representation across reactors, utilities, construction, technology, equipment, service providers and fuels.
For more, see Investing in Clean Energy with ETFs.