Is NuScale Power Stock a Millionaire Maker?

Brett Schafer, The Motley Fool

Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 6:05 AM 5 min read

• NuScale Power is trying to bring small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to market, but keeps facing delays.

• It will not deploy an SMR until 2030 at the earliest.

• With heavy cash burn, this resembles a science project than a viable business.

Electricity demand is rising rapidly in the United States. Growth in spending on data centers related to artificial intelligence (AI) is causing electricity usage in the country to rise at the fastest rate in decades, with projections for sustained growth in the 2030s, thanks to the adoption of electric modes of transportation making significant inroads in market share in the industry.

Electrification is going to be a long-term trend around the world, and the party is just getting started. Countries and municipalities are searching for alternatives to fossil fuels to help match electricity supply with this growing demand.

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One company that hopes to ride this wave is NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), a start-up focused on small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). It went public a few years ago and now has a market cap approaching $5 billion as investors get optimistic about potential growth in nuclear energy.

Can NuScale Power stock make you rich if you buy today and hold for decades?

While demand is rising for electricity, so are the proposed costs for NuScale Power's projects. In late 2023, due to rising cost concerns, the Utah power regulator terminated its deal with the company to build SMRs to supply its power grid.

Originally, the project was set to debut in 2023 at a cost of $3 billion. However, years later, the projected cost swelled to nearly $10 billion and a completion date no sooner than 2030. Utah's government decided to look elsewhere to supply its utility needs.

The cost to build power plants directly affects what businesses and households will pay for electricity, making it the No. 1 factor when deciding which energy source to use. If SMRs are going to be significantly higher in cost than traditional sources, nuclear power may not be the first choice for utilities when deciding how they will source electricity for their customers.

This brings up another point around SMR technology: It has never been deployed commercially outside of Russia and China, which each having only one SMR in operation. Technology advocates have hyped SMRs for decades, but they have struggled to meet the underlying economic reality of how utilities operate.