Investment in Smaller Reactors

Developers of small modular nuclear reactors have raised at least $1.5bn in funding over the past year, tapping into a surge of investor interest linked to power supply deals agreed with Big Tech. They have also secured pledges of billions of dollars of support from governments, amid a global race to launch new technologies considered critical to powering the artificial intelligence revolution. The largest fundraising of $700mn was closed this month by X-energy, a US developer that added Jane Street and other institutional investors to a register that included technology giant Amazon, Ken Griffin, founder and chief executive of Citadel and chemical company Dow. Paris-based developer Newcleo raised $151mn in September and US-based developers Blue Energy and Last Energy raised $45mn and $40mn respectively last year. Nano Nuclear Energy, a developer of microreactors which listed in May, raised $134mn capital in 2024. Three SMR developers listed in New York, Oklo, NuScale and Nano Nuclear, raised more than $700mn through share sales and other financing mechanisms over the past 12 months, according to a Financial Times analysis of public records and data from PitchBook and BloombergNEF. Westinghouse, Rolls-Royce, Holtec International, GE Hitachi and Bill Gates’ TerraPower are also among a host of companies investing in about 60 SMR projects globally, according to World Nuclear Association data. Amazon’s purchase of a stake in X-energy and Google’s power supply deal with SMR developer Kairos Power, which both occurred in October, have shaken up a funding market that soured in 2023 because of high interest rates and inflation. But analysts warn developers still face technical, regulatory and funding risks despite the improved sentiment.

FT 19th Feb 2025
https://www.ft.com/content/2d84198e-7eeb-4154-bbf2-9a469b0cc700