Nuclear power is having a renaissance. Here's what consultants say about the industry's future.

Nuclear energy is popular again, but the industry's growth faces obstacles.

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• Investment in nuclear energy is up, but US construction lags behind the rest of the world.
• Consulting firms like BCG and McKinsey analyzed the forces holding up the nuclear industry.
• The firms say scaling, public sentiment, and regulatory hurdles are slowing growth.

It wasn't long ago that the very mention of "nuclear" was enough to unsettle people across the ideological spectrum.