Nuclear power market valued at $10 trillion amid AI boom. Who can win?

Nuclear power represents a potential $10 trillion market thanks to the booming need for electricity for IT infrastructure, Bank of America said, estimating that it will require a threefold increase in capacity to meet demand by mid-century and that cumulative investment in the industry will exceed $3 trillion over the next 25 years. Which companies stand to benefit?

Nuclear power represents a potential $10 trillion market that could be "the answer to the world's electricity shortage problems," Bank of America analysts wrote in a note cited by Yahoo Finance.

In order to meet the demand for electricity, which is growing due to the need to provide data centers that support the work of artificial intelligence, the world's nuclear power capacity must triple by 2050, according to BofA. Investment in the sector over the next 25 years could exceed $3 trillion, he said.

"That potential [for nuclear power] is greater today than it has been in the past. Data centers are looking for reliable, controllable and clean generation, and nuclear power can provide that," Timothy Fox, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners, told Yahoo Finance.

According to Bank of America, the key to meeting this demand amid the "rediscovered" potential of nuclear power may lie in so-called small modular reactors (SMRs), which BofA called "one of the most significant energy technologies of the next 25 years."

SMRs are usually designed to generate about 500 megawatts or less, while the capacity of a traditional nuclear power plant is usually 1,000 MW or more, Yahoo Finance writes. Unlike classic nuclear power plants, which can take years or even decades to build, SMRs are cheaper and can be built faster thanks to "modular" components that can be mass-produced and assembled like on an assembly line, the publication said.

"Demand for such reactors is not in short supply, given U.S. energy needs driven by the development of data centers and artificial intelligence," Vikram Bagri, Citi's alternative and renewable energy analyst, told Yahoo Finance.

"Nuclear power is not the future, it's the present," Kevin Ma, chief investment officer at Hennion & Walsh, noted in a conversation with Yahoo Finance. His company expects the share of nuclear generation in the U.S. energy mix to triple over the next decade from the current roughly 19%.

Rising demand, coupled with strong support for US President Donald Trump's administration and a shift in public opinion about the sector after years of pessimism, has ensured that companies across the nuclear power supply chain will see their quotes rise in 2025, Yahoo Finance writes.

- For example, the shares of U.S. NuScale Power have risen by more than 112% since the beginning of 2025. It is the only company in the United States whose SMR project has received a license from the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. According to its statements, the first reactor may enter the market by 2030, if everything goes according to plan.

- The shares of the startup Oklo have soared by 395% this year. Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT), invested in the company, and he chaired its board of directors until April 2025. Oklo has announced its intention to begin commercial energy delivery by the end of 2027.

- Louisiana Energy Services, a private company, is the only operator in the United States licensed to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU). Only Centrus Energy is authorized to produce highly enriched uranium (HALEU), with concentrations of up to 20%, which makes the company a key link for both SMR development and the nuclear industry as a whole, Yahoo Finance writes. Centrus shares have risen more than 294% since the beginning of the year.

At the very beginning of the supply chain are companies that mine uranium from the ground. Here, the U.S. share is extremely Ma, while Kazakhstan remains the leader of the global mining market.

- Shares of U.S. miners Uranium Energy and Ur-Energy have gained more than 83% and 31%, respectively, since the beginning of the year. Denver-based Energy Fuels added over 174%.

- The Global X Uranium ETF (ticker URA), an exchange-traded fund tracking a basket of uranium-related companies, has gained more than 65% since the beginning of the year. The spot price of uranium has added about 3.4%, according to Cameco.

Shares of nuclear companies rose sharply in trading on September 18 after the United States and the United Kingdom agreed to cooperate in this area during the state visit of U.S. President Donald Trump. In addition to Oklo and NuScale Power, BWX Technologies also rose in price.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor