How to get filthy rich via Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

OKLO – has a market cap of $8 billion, and its shares jumped more than 12% on Aug. 25. Sounds great doesn’t it? BUT:

• OKLO had a net loss of $81.6 million in the second quarter this year.  
• It went public through a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) in 2025.  
• It generates no commercial energy income today.  
• Its first Small Modular Reactor (SMR), the Aurora Powerhouse, isn’t expected to enter commercial operation for years.  
• Oklo is incurring tens of millions in operating losses annually. 
• It is $78.6 million in debt, so interest and loan payments eat into its earnings.
• OKLO is still in discussions with the regulator NRC, regarding the fuel, high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, and other supply chain issues.

SPACS explained, and why you might want to avoid them

Similarly, stocks of  both NuScale Power, and Nano Nuclear have soared over the past year. Yet both are making little or no money, and both have suffered operational losses over this year. NuScale is now facing a class action by investors who claim that the company misrepresented the prospects for small nuclear reactors.

So – what have the smart rich investors done? Basically, they’ve gambled on these stocks being over-priced, and soon to go down. Investment strategies are not my strong point, but it seems that short selling is one hedge fund strategy. So these clever investors, noting the unsustainable rise in share prices, borrow shares and soon sell them at the inflated price, and can buy them back later as the price plunges down.

So, it’s estimated that investors made over $2 Billion over the past months by short selling shares in these three small nuclear reactor companies – OKLO, NuScale, and Nano Nuclear.

The rage for investing in SMRs is still on, as the world is gripped by the mania for AI hyperscalers. (AI hyperscalers are companies investing grotesque amounts of money in building data centres world-wide)

Neither the hyperscalers nor the small reactor companies are actually making money at present. But the hype is all-consuming.

This is the prevailing hype:

The AI Boom Is Making Nuclear Power Bankable Again – America’s nuclear power landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by the immense energy needs of artificial intelligence. Tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are directly financing nuclear projects, committing billions to secure nearly 10 gigawatts of capacity… Almost everything tech companies are funding – Meta, Amazon, most of Google’s bets – is small modular reactors: compact designs.

Will AI kickstart a new age of nuclear power? – IAEA Director General Manuel Grossi believes that the nuclear industry is destined to be the energy partner of the AI revolution. “Only nuclear energy can meet the five needs of low-carbon power generation, round-the-clock reliability, ultra-high power density, grid stability and true scalability” …the IAEA is working closely with regulators and the industry to make them a viable proposition and we could soon be seeing large numbers of small reactors being deployed to meet the demand.

So – we have the Trumpian process in the USA, of the weakening of radiation and safety regulation of nuclear reactors, and of the government already funding 8 SMR companies.

With the claim that nuclear power combats climate change, with the accepted belief in the necessity for AI hyperscale, governments, academia, the corporate media, and the UN all promote this new marriage of nuclear and Big Tech. So – all the stars are aligned for the rise and rise of small nuclear reactors.

Incidentally, don’t look to the UN, the World Health Organisation (WHO) or anyone like that to cry foul. I think that most people have forgotten, if they ever knew it, but the 1959 agreement between the WHO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) effectively prevents the WHO from criticising things nuclear. One important sentence – “Whenever either organization proposes to initiate a programme or activity on a subject in which the other organization has or may have a substantial interest, the first party shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement.”

In this time of vulnerability of nuclear sites, to war and terrorism, I wonder how Rafael Grossi, Director of the IAEA, reconciles his conflicting duties, that of promoting nuclear power and that of assuring of its safety.

But I digress. We are talking about money, and how to get rich through investing in small nuclear reactors. Well, that is still a goer. But perhaps you’d better be quick, as investment advisors are now dithering about the share price of commercial SMR companies, even though the Big Tech- SMR teams are apparently still booming.

However, the global nuclear lobby is now turning its attention to military microreactors, rather than commercial energy, so there’s hope for future stock market gains as governments splurge tax-payers money into companies in that area.