After Amazon and Google reached milestone power supply agreements with nuclear energy companies, the stock prices of nuclear listed companies on the US stock market soared to record highs last week, and the first batch of small modular reactors (SMRs) are accelerating their deployment in the United States.
Over the past week, the stock prices of Oklo Inc and NuScale Power, small reactor developers listed in the United States, have risen by 99% and 37% respectively. Private small-scale reactor developers X-energy and Kairos Power have also announced financing agreements.
In addition, the stock prices of Oklo, NuScale, Constellation, Cameco, and BWX Technologies all hit historic highs last week.
Based on the stock price performance since the beginning of this year, Constellation Energy's stock price has more than doubled since the beginning of the year. The group operates the largest conventional nuclear reactor portfolio in the United States; The stock price of uranium producer Cameco has risen by 38% this year; The stock price of nuclear component supplier BWX Technologies surged by 65%.
The road of counterattack
After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, the nuclear energy industry fell silent globally, but now there are signs that the industry is accelerating its recovery.
Last week, Google signed an agreement with nuclear startup Kairos Power to build seven small modular nuclear reactors to power Google's data centers.
Earlier this year, Amazon also announced plans to build a massive data center and connect it directly to another nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania; In addition, in September, Microsoft announced an agreement with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island reactor that was shut down in 2019 and purchase electricity for the next 20 years from it;
With the surge of artificial intelligence data centers, there has been a historic increase in electricity demand in the United States. It is expected that these protocols will support the deployment of up to 12 next-generation reactors, providing low-carbon power for Amazon and Google's high energy consuming artificial intelligence data centers.
Seth Grae, CEO of Lightbridge Corporation, a nuclear fuel developer, and President of the International Council of the American Nuclear Society, stated that companies operating nuclear reactors have been speaking out for some time, saying that they are needed to meet the prosperity of artificial intelligence electricity demand, but no one seems to believe them.
He also added, "These huge investments indicate that the technology industry believes that renewable energy and batteries cannot provide sufficiently stable or cost-effective electricity, and therefore needs to shift to nuclear energy
However, the decision of Amazon and Google to invest in small reactors seems to provide a signal to the market that large companies have begun to choose nuclear power generation, and market rules are about to change. This reflects the need for these technology companies to procure reliable, cost-effective, and clean electricity to power the new wave of artificial intelligence data centers.