NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) holds a unique position in the American nuclear energy landscape, becoming the only reactor developer in the U.S. to receive NRC approval for a small modular reactor design.
Despite that regulatory milestone, the company has yet to secure a single firm commercial sale of its SMR technology, leaving investors in an uncomfortable waiting position.
NuScale’s SMR concept is built around scalability, allowing customers to deploy up to 12 reactor modules depending on their energy needs, with units manufactured in a factory setting to reduce deployment timelines.
The promise of clean, round-the-clock power has drawn significant interest, particularly as data center expansion creates one of the most pressing electricity bottlenecks in the buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The company’s troubled history with its Carbon Free Power Plant project, which ballooned to roughly $9 billion before being canceled in 2023, continues to cast a long shadow over its cost credibility.
NuScale currently has two major projects in development: a 462-megawatt electric plant in Romania designed to replace a former coal facility, and a 6-gigawatt SMR deployment in the U.S. through partner ENTRA1 for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Neither project has entered the construction phase, and both are still awaiting financing decisions that will determine exactly how these large-scale nuclear systems will ultimately be funded.
Realistically, neither development is expected to reach completion before 2030, meaning the company will continue burning cash without generating meaningful revenue for several more years.
NuScale reported just $31.5 million in sales last year, alongside a net loss of roughly $355 million, a figure more than $100 million greater than the prior year’s loss.
To bridge that financial gap, management sold 39.3 million shares during the fourth quarter of 2025, raising $750 million in capital, with total shares outstanding more than doubling over the past 12 months alone.
That dilution trend has been a persistent feature of NuScale’s financial story, and investors should expect it to continue as the company funds operations ahead of any commercial revenue breakthrough.
Competing SMR developers including Oklo and Nano Nuclear Energy have not yet secured NRC design approval, potentially giving NuScale a lead of one to two years in the regulatory race.
Whether that first-mover advantage translates into a first paying customer remains the central question hanging over the stock as it sits 20% lower on the year.
