This article outlines the five criteria necessary to successfully build nuclear power plants, then considers several non-nuclear nations and assesses their capacity to obtain nuclear energy. The authors use the following criteria in their analysis: adequate financial resources; the ability and willingness to assume the inherent risk of a nuclear plant; an electrical grid that is capable of supporting a plant; the ability to develop technological innovation; and a capable workforce, or at least the capacity to attract a specialized workforce from abroad. After defining those criteria, the authors organize the assessment by geographical region to include Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceana, Europe, and the Americas. Several nations from each region are discussed in regard to their capability to develop nuclear energy and their desire to do so as of late 2009. The authors conclude that "changing political environments, rising construction costs, and risk-management issues have created a higher barrier to entry today than existed in earlier decades" when it comes to nuclear energy development (p. 28).