Why NuScale Power Stock Popped Wednesday

NuScale (NYSE: SMR) stock, the start-up manufacturer of small modular (nuclear) power reactors and (as it often reminds), the “first and only SMR to have its designs certified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” gained 6.3% through 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

A couple of positive developments for nuclear investors probably explain why.

The first is an upgrade from Bank of America for NuScale rival Oklo (NYSE: OKLO). Tthis morning, BofA analyst Dimple Gosai referenced Oklo’s new contract with Meta (NASDAQ: META), under which Meta pre-pays Oklo for power, giving Oklo the cash needed to build SMR reactors to supply it.

Gosai says nuclear investors have been looking for “tangible evidence advanced nuclear is moving from concept to execution,” and argues “this agreement provides exactly that.”

In a second development, Japan this morning restarted operations at “the world’s largest nuclear power plant.” For the first time since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) has reopened the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

(In fact, as ABC News points out, Japan has quietly reopened no fewer than 14 separate reactors in recent years. It has six other reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa that may also be restarting.)

The fact that TEPCO is reopening a nuclear plant in a “quake-prone region” provides further evidence, I think, that companies are ready to embrace nuclear power again, despite any risks. With NuScale boasting better, safer, smaller designs, this seems a second positive sign for both the industry in general and for NuScale stock in particular.

I’d still prefer to see NuScale earn some profit before investing in it. Unfortunately, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, that won’t happen before 2030 at the earliest.

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