How the Resurgence of Nuclear Power is Creating a New Class of Energy Stocks

For many years, the term “nuclear power” was associated with negative connotations that caused fund managers to turn away. The plants were ancient. There were an infinite number of permits. Three Mile Island and Fukushima influenced public opinion, which ranged from cautious to overtly antagonistic. Then the trade flipped, almost without anyone noticing. At some point during the past two years, nuclear became the topic you discussed at dinner parties rather than the one you avoided.

You can sense the change when you walk through the lobby of any energy conference these days. Younger individuals in fleece vests, primarily representing data center operators and AI infrastructure companies, are following the elderly utility executives, who are still there in their cautious suits. They are not inquiring about megawatt-hours in general. They are willing to sign for baseload power now, but they want to know who can deliver it in five years. A new class of energy stocks has quietly emerged as a result of that one conversation.

A portion of the story is revealed by the numbers. Morgan Stanley increased its estimate from $1.5 trillion to approximately $2.2 trillion for possible investments in the nuclear value chain through 2050. Even in 2020, the goal of Washington lawmakers to quadruple U.S. nuclear capacity by the middle of the century would have seemed unrealistic. Additionally, the names lining up to purchase power on the corporate side are no longer unknown. Oklo and Meta reached a 1.2 gigawatt agreement for a data center campus. A 12-gigawatt master agreement came next.

The real diversity of the investable companies is what’s intriguing. The upstream commodity story is provided by Cameco, a Canadian uranium miner whose Cigar Lake operation yields some of the world’s highest-grade ore. With a project underway in Canada, GE Vernova is developing its BWRX-300 small modular reactor and brings proven engineering strength. With a fleet of operational plants in the US, Constellation Energy has evolved into something akin to a utility-scale picks-and-shovels play for the AI buildout. Then there are the speculative names: NuScale, the only SMR developer with an NRC Standard Design Approval, and Oklo, with its Aurora Powerhouse microreactors.

The final detail is more significant than the headlines indicate. NuScale has a regulatory moat that rivals are still years away from breaching thanks to its 77 megawatt design, which was certified in May 2025. It is another matter entirely whether NuScale turns its project in Romania and its tentative partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority into actual revenue. Observing the stock gives the impression that the market is purchasing a permission slip rather than a final product.

In hindsight, some of these businesses might end up resembling the Solyndras and SunEdisons of a previous transition. It is anticipated that Oklo’s Idaho project won’t be operational until at least late 2027. Its fuel plant in Tennessee won’t start producing until the 2030s. Today, investors purchasing the story are purchasing patience rather than earnings, and patience is a brittle asset when interest rates fluctuate.

Nevertheless, it’s difficult to ignore the similarity to Tesla’s appearance in 2013. The product was still in the early stages of development. There was no proof of the economics. However, cultural consent to invest had changed, and the trade was the result of that change. Concrete is being poured at isolated locations in Romania and Idaho while financial instruments are being constructed around them, a slower and more peculiar version of what is happening here. It’s still unclear if the new nuclear class will live up to expectations. The money has made the decision to find out, and that much is certain.