Nuclear power could be a $10 trillion industry that ‘holds the answer to the world’s power shortages’
Nuclear energy represents a $10 trillion potential market opportunity that could hold “the answer to the world’s power shortages,” according to a new report from Bank of America.
To meet the growing demand for global electrification stoked by energy-intensive projects like the data centers underpinning the AI arms race, global nuclear capacity will have to triple by 2050, the firm estimated. Investment is expected to reach more than $3 trillion in the next 25 years.
“This potential [for nuclear energy] has more momentum than before,” Timothy Fox, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, told Yahoo Finance. “There are data centers looking for firm and dispatchable and clean generation, and nuclear power can cover that.”
Rising demand, combined with strong support from the Trump administration and a public narrative turning positive after years of a dour outlook on the sector, has given a share price boost to companies operating throughout the nuclear sector supply chain in 2025.
“In many ways,” Bank of America analysts wrote, “nuclear energy has been ‘rediscovered’ amid surging electricity demand ignited by the rise of AI/data centers, building electrification, industrial growth, and EV.”
“Nuclear power is a proven technology that can provide reliable, cheap, clean, and safe power as a bridge to renewable sources if/when they become ready at a larger scale.”
According to Bank of America, the answer to meeting this demand amid a “rediscovery” of nuclear’s potential benefits may lie in what the bank calls “one of the most consequential energy technologies for the next 25 years”: small modular reactors, or SMRs.
SMRs are typically designed to produce around 500 megawatts or less of energy compared to a traditional nuclear power plant’s 1,000 MW or more. Unlike traditional nuclear power plants that may take years — if not decades — to bring online, SMRs are cheaper and faster to build, with “modular” parts that can be mass-produced and slotted together on an assembly line.
NuScale Power (SMR), the only company in the US that has an SMR design licensed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has said it could have a reactor on the market by 2030 if everything goes to plan. Oklo (OKLO), a startup backed and, until recently, chaired by OpenAI chief Sam Altman, has announced intentions to deliver power by the end of 2027.
Shares in NuScale and Oklo are up more than 100% and more than 350% since the beginning of the year, respectively.
“There is no dearth of demand for these reactors, given the energy needs in the United States driven by data centers and AI,” Citi alternatives and renewable energy analyst Vikram Bagri told Yahoo Finance.
One step earlier in the supply chain, nearly all commercially operable nuclear reactors require specific kinds of fuel to operate: low-enriched uranium (LEU) or high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is uranium enriched up to 20%. (Weapons-grade uranium for use in nuclear weapons requires enrichment past 90%.)
Private company Louisiana Energy Services is the only operator licensed to produce LEU in the US, and Centrus Energy (LEU) is the only one allowed to produce HALEU, making it a critical component to a potential SMR buildout and the nuclear industry at large. Shares in Centrus are up more than 265% on the year. Centrus is up more than 245% year to date.
Louisiana Energy Services and Centrus also represent an American foothold in what is an intensely geopolitical sector.
Vibrant Colored Image of two cooling towers of a nuclear power facility in Tennessee, USA on a Sunny Autumn Day. A facility like this creates jobs for the local economy, provides carbon-free electricity to the region, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. ·Jeremy Poland via Getty Images
“The US, once the world’s largest uranium fuel producer, now relies heavily on imports, with efforts underway to rebuild domestic enrichment,” Bank of America analysts wrote.
At the very beginning of the supply chain are the companies mining uranium out of the ground. Here, the US only contributes a tiny fraction to global supply, with Kazakhstan dominating the mining market.
Shares of US miners Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) and Ur-Energy (URG) have risen more than 80% and more than 30% since the start of the year, respectively. Shares of Denver-based Energy Fuels (UUUU) have risen more than 170%.
The Global X Uranium ETF (URA), which tracks a basket of uranium-linked companies, is up more than 65% year to date. The spot price of uranium has gained around 3.4%, according to Cameco data.
“Nuclear isn’t the future, it’s the present,” Hennion & Walsh chief investment officer Kevin Mahn told Yahoo Finance, noting that his firm expects the percentage of US power generated by nuclear energy to triple over the next decade from its current level of roughly 19%.
As Goldman Sachs strategists wrote in a report earlier this year, “After decades of stagnation, the supply of nuclear energy is poised to increase significantly in the coming years on the back of rising power consumption, a shift toward cleaner energy, and the need for round-the-clock power sources.”
Jake Conley is a breaking news reporter covering US equities for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @byjakeconley or email him at jake.conley@yahooinc.com.
