NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), Oklo (NYSE: OKLO), and GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV) are drawing investor attention as nuclear energy emerges as a critical solution for powering AI infrastructure.
Central banks are signaling higher-for-longer interest rates, with persistent energy costs keeping inflation sticky across major economies.
For power-hungry AI data centers, reliable, carbon-free electricity is becoming as essential to operations as chips or servers.
That dynamic creates a compelling opening for investors focused on companies tied to nuclear power, which can generate electricity around the clock without emissions.
NuScale Power develops small modular reactors built around its 77 MWe NuScale Power Module, offering turnkey carbon-free baseload power supported by licensing, construction, operations, training, and fuel management services.
The company currently generates approximately $11 million in revenue from electric utility-related services in the United States and carries a market capitalization of $4.0 billion.
NuScale holds an NRC-approved reactor design and has built an ecosystem of partners ranging from RoPower in Romania to potential deployments with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
However, the company remains loss-making, relies heavily on external funding and equity issuance, and its key revenue catalysts depend on converting non-binding power purchase agreements into firm contracts.
Oklo develops its Aurora Powerhouse small modular reactors, factory-built to deliver between 15 and 75 MW of continuous, carbon-free baseload electricity for large power users including AI data centers and industrial facilities.
Oklo also works on fuel recycling technology capable of converting used nuclear fuel into fresh fuel for its own plants, and holds a market capitalization of $7.5 billion.
The company has more than $1.6 billion in cash and approximately $600 million in marketable equities to fund its buildout, while advancing regulatory milestones through programs like the DOE Reactor Pilot Program and the Groves Isotope Test Reactor.
Despite its strategic position, Oklo’s revenue remains near zero, losses are meaningful, and nuclear projects are historically prone to delays and cost pressure.
GE Vernova is a diversified energy infrastructure company supplying equipment and services across power generation and grid transmission, with its Power segment covering gas, nuclear, hydro, and steam technologies.
GE Vernova generates the majority of its revenue from the Power segment at approximately $21.0 billion, alongside $12.2 billion from Electrification and $8.5 billion from Wind.
The company carries a market capitalization of $239.3 billion and sits at the center of a $176 billion backlog spanning generation assets and grid upgrade projects.
GE Vernova’s nuclear turbines and plant services represent one part of a broader portfolio that analysts view as well-positioned to benefit from rising long-term, carbon-free power demand.
The catch for GE Vernova is that recent earnings have included large one-off gains, and the Wind segment continues to weigh on overall profitability.
The nuclear and grid segments will need to keep delivering consistent results to justify the premium expectations already embedded in the company’s current valuation.
Across all three names, the central investment thesis rests on whether surging AI-related electricity demand can accelerate timelines and commercial outcomes for nuclear infrastructure at a scale the market has not yet fully priced in.
