Nuclear Powers the AI Decade
Bala Kamallakharan@balainiceland
−10.5%
since Oct 7
The idea
I believe AI data centers need firm, round-the-clock power, and nuclear is the only carbon-free source that delivers it, so I built exposure across the whole value chain rather than betting on one winner. The take holds reactor owners already signing power deals with big tech, the uranium and enrichment suppliers that stay tight regardless of reactor design, component and services firms paid during the build-out either way, and a deliberately small slice of SMR developers as longer-shot upside.
What it owns
- Every reactor, old or new, needs uranium and enrichment, and supply is tight regardless of which reactor design wins. · CamecoThe Western uranium anchor supplies fuel to whatever reactor design wins, and a decade of new nuclear demand keeps that market tight., Centrus EnergyIt is the only US company enriching the high-assay uranium fuel most advanced reactor designs need, making it a chokepoint in the value chain., Uranium Energy CorpA US uranium producer that benefits if the nuclear buildout pushes governments and utilities to buy domestic fuel., NexGen EnergyIt is developing what could be the next flagship uranium mine, a supply-side bet on a decade of fuel demand., Energy FuelsIt runs the key US uranium mill, infrastructure the domestic fuel cycle cannot skip if American reactors multiply., Denison MinesIt is developing one of the lowest-cost uranium deposits, a leveraged bet on the tight fuel market the fuel layer rides.28%
- The firms making reactor parts, fuel and instruments get paid during the construction wave no matter whose reactor gets built. · GE VernovaIt has the first small modular reactor actually under construction, which proves the buildout is real and not just announcements., BWX TechnologiesIt makes reactor components for the Navy and increasingly for commercial and small modular projects, earning during the build regardless of which design wins., Curtiss-WrightIt makes the pumps and valves inside reactors, generating revenue during construction no matter whose design prevails., Mirion TechnologiesIt sells radiation monitoring equipment that every reactor, new or old, has to buy, a tollbooth on the whole industry.26%
- Utilities with existing nuclear plants are already selling power to AI data centers today, so they anchor the take with real earnings. · Constellation EnergyIt owns the biggest US reactor fleet, so if AI data centers keep paying for around-the-clock carbon-free power, it collects first., VistraIt pairs a nuclear fleet with gas plants, earning from the AI power crunch today while the nuclear side re-rates over the decade., Talen EnergyIt already sells nuclear power directly to Amazon data centers, proving that AI buyers will pay for firm carbon-free electricity., Public Service Enterprise GroupA regulated utility with nuclear plants, it provides steady cash while the AI power story plays out.26%
- Small modular reactors are the long-dated upside: if even one design reaches commercial scale, these move many times over. · OkloIt is the fast-reactor design in the small modular layer, a patient bet that holds as long as it moves through licensing toward deployment., NuScale PowerIt has the NRC-certified small reactor design, putting it furthest along the regulatory path in the small modular reactor layer., Nano Nuclear EnergyIt pursues microreactors for remote or dedicated loads, the most speculative piece of the small modular reactor layer.12%
- Cash8%