Nuclear energy is in the midst of a global renaissance. According to the World Nuclear Association, there are 75 nuclear reactors under construction with another 120 planned. The U.S Department of Energy has set a goal to triple America’s nuclear power production by the middle of the century.
Nuclear power sits at the crossroads of a number of trends, like the power needs of artificial intelligence (AI), the larger push for green energy, and instability in global energy markets caused by a renewed wave of conflict in the Middle East.
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The three companies below are some of the best ways to play this trend over the next several decades.
Image source: Getty Images
Up first is Canada’s Cameco (NYSE: CCJ), the world’s second-largest uranium miner. All nuclear reactors need that spicy yellow rock to generate power. Cameco was responsible for 15% of the uranium produced globally in 2025, behind only Kazakhstan’s state-run Kazatomprom.
The company has two incredibly high-grade uranium mines. The biggest is McArthur River/Key Lake, which is the world’s largest high-grade uranium mine and has an average grade of 6.48%. Cameco also operates the Cigar Lake mine, which is smaller than McArthur River but has an incredible 16.33% average grade.
In addition, Cameco is involved in nuclear fuel refining and engineering nuclear plants through its 49% joint venture ownership of Westinghouse. That company’s AP1000 reactor is the most advanced commercially available nuclear reactor in the world.
In 2025, Cameco saw its revenue climb 11% over 2024 and its earnings per share (EPS) grow 114%. It also runs a net profit margin of 16.93 and a very healthy debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, which is impressive in the capital-intensive mining industry.
Cameco is a critical company in the world’s nuclear infrastructure, and its products are foundational to everything else in it. It can form the bedrock of an investment in the industry.
Constellation Energy (NASDAQ: CEG) is one of the companies that builds upon the foundation provided by Cameco. It’s America’s largest provider of nuclear power. There are 94 reactors in the country across 54 plants that collectively provide about 20% of America’s energy. Constellation operates 21 of them.
The company is also working to expand that fleet specifically to meet the power needs of AI. Back in 2024, Constellation partnered with Microsoft to resurrect the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to power Microsoft’s data centers in the area.
In all, Constellation is a pretty straightforward company. It produces electricity. Coming off a rough 2024, the company saw its revenue grow 8.34% in 2025, and it reported a net profit margin of 9.1%. Constellation also has a healthy balance sheet with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61%, which is rather good in a capital-intensive industry like energy.
Finally, Constellation pays a dividend that yields 0.57% at current prices. It’s not huge, but it was only initiated in 2022, and the company has grown it every year since. Plus, with a payout ratio of just 21%, Constellation has plenty of room to keep that growth streak going.
Like Cameco and most other nuclear companies, this is one to consider holding for the long haul. The nuclear renaissance is just getting started and will likely take decades to play out.
Nuclear power is pretty wild when you stop to think about it. We’re literally ripping apart atoms, the fundamental building blocks of reality, to boil water. And in all, for the amount of energy it produces, we don’t require a whole lot of space to do it either.
But companies like BWX Technologies (NYSE: BWXT) are working to shrink the amount of space needed to contain that power with small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs work exactly like full-sized reactors, but on a smaller scale. There are currently none in operation, but several companies, BWX included, are developing prototypes.
BWX’s version is called the BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor or BANR. The idea is, you build a BANR in a factory and ship it out in pieces, where it’s assembled at its final location. From there, it can generate power for whatever you need, say a military base or a cluster of data centers.
The company has a lot of experience miniaturizing nuclear reactors. Its core business is designing and producing nuclear power systems for the U.S. Navy. Since it worked on the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine, in the 1950s, BWX has manufactured over 400 naval nuclear reactors.
So, I like BWX’s odds of figuring out how to make a small reactor work on land. It had a pretty solid end to 2025 as well, with its revenue growing 18% over 2024 and its EPS surging 20% over the same time frame. It’s one to consider adding to your portfolio to profit from the bleeding edge of nuclear technology.
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James Hires has positions in BWX Technologies and Cameco. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends BWX Technologies, Cameco, Constellation Energy, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The Top Three Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
