The energy revolution is here. Never before has Colorado been better positioned to embrace an all-of-the-above approach to powering homes, businesses and data centers — the kind championed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a Coloradan through and through.

Oil remains essential, and clean coal is still needed. Natural gas is a powerful and plentiful transition fuel that’s lower in emissions and high in output. Wind and solar matter, too, but even their strongest advocates admit they can’t carry Colorado’s energy baseload anytime soon.

It all comes down to reliability, especially as Colorado vies for major tech investment in AI and quantum computing. As we noted Tuesday, the need for electricity generation and transmission capacity is expected to surge by magnitudes.

That’s precisely why nuclear power must be a part of the solution.

The good news? Next generation “modular” reactors offer the practical path forward — and Colorado is ready to deliver.

While 98 full-size reactors still operate safely in the U.S., these compact units take up less than 10% of the space of traditional gas, coal or conventional nuclear plants. Their factory-built components slash costs and are easier to transport, install and bring online quickly.

Thanks in no small part to the leadership of Colorado Springs state Sen. Larry Liston, a bipartisan coalition passed House Bill 25-1040 to redefine nuclear power as “green energy.” As a result, nuclear projects are eligible for special clean-energy project financing, allowing utilities to count nuclear power generation toward the state’s overall clean-energy portfolio mandates.

Some areas of Colorado are especially eager to begin. Rural governments are already exploring next-generation technologies, from small modular reactors to systems that recycle or repurpose nuclear waste. On the Western Slope, the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado launched an initiative to study, plan, and develop nuclear capacity for energy-challenged communities.

Still, deploying revolutionary modular reactors requires substantial uranium supplies. Fortunately, Colorado has plenty.

As The Gazette reported this month, one longtime Colorado uranium mine is primed to restart production with significant reserves, mostly in-state. Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp., which supplied the federal government from the 1950s through the mid-1980s, began rehabilitating and developing operations in 2020, paused during COVID and rebooted in 2022.

Owner George Glasier told The Gazette’s news staff the mine could produce for 15 to 20 years, creating hundreds of jobs and boosting local economies in Montrose and San Miguel counties.

Glasier estimates the U.S. could meet roughly half its uranium needs within a decade if prices make production feasible. Domestic output currently covers only a small fraction of demand, with most uranium still imported.

That’s a national security issue. With growing concerns over rare-earth minerals imported from China and other foreign suppliers, Colorado can help by mining and developing resources — then putting them to work at home.

“This facility is critical to reducing America’s dependence on foreign minerals and rare earth element processing, and to powering American energy dominance through safe, reliable and clean nuclear energy,” U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, whose 3rd Congressional District includes Western Uranium, tweeted recently.

We couldn’t agree more.

This isn’t your grandfather’s nuclear power. It’s compact, factory-built, easy to deploy — and with zero carbon emissions, the ultimate clean-energy driver.

The challenge ahead is scaling it. That requires proactive steps and deliberate investment, which takes time. It’s time for Colorado to start leading.