Public opposition to data center construction is emerging as a serious threat to nuclear energy stocks, with Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) and NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) among the most exposed.
Nuclear energy has been experiencing a broad revival, fueled largely by the surging power demands of artificial intelligence infrastructure and the data centers that support it.
Both Oklo and NuScale specialize in small modular reactors, known as SMRs, which are designed for faster construction and can be co-located directly alongside data center facilities.
Those co-location and speed advantages have been central to the investment case for SMR developers, positioning them as uniquely capable of meeting the urgent energy needs of the AI industry.
However, if public backlash succeeds in slowing data center construction, the premium that clients are willing to pay for SMR technology becomes much harder to justify.
On a per-megawatt basis, SMRs are more expensive than conventional nuclear power plants, meaning their commercial appeal depends heavily on the very advantages that backlash now threatens to undermine.
Beyond the political environment, there are fundamental technological hurdles that investors cannot afford to overlook when assessing either company’s near-term prospects.
Only two SMR systems have ever been built worldwide, a figure that underscores just how early-stage this technology remains relative to the scale of expectations priced into these stocks.
NuScale has yet to commercialize its reactor designs, while Oklo does not yet have approval from U.S. regulators to even begin construction on its planned facilities.
Industry observers broadly expect it will be years before the United States has its first commercial small modular reactor operating at full capacity and connected to the grid.
Growing public resistance to data centers, combined with renewed interest in natural gas as an alternative power source, could push that already distant timeline even further into the future.
For investors, the risk profile around both Oklo and NuScale is becoming more complex, with regulatory, political, and competitive pressures converging at a particularly sensitive moment for the sector.
