After decades in which building new reactors in the U.S. seemed sluggish and expensive, surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and electrification have all at once made good ol' dependable nuclear one of the energy sectors' most promising commodities. That, in itself, has created no shortage of nuclear energy stocks for investors to pick from today. Plenty of companies are vying for a slice of the new nuclear space, some more far along in their businesses, others with innovations that could shake up the entire industry.
This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia.
Continue » On that note, if I had $1,000 to invest in a single nuclear stock and leave it untouched for years, I would choose a company whose reactor designs are positively disruptive, whose potential customer base is enormous, and whose business could become far more valuable if even a fraction of its ambitions came to fruition. Oklo is, right now, like a vine of special grapes: Its business over the next decade could mature into a very fine wine. If things go badly, however, it could sour into a cheap vinegar.
Let's start with the end result and work our way back. If Oklo stock becomes wine, it has done at least four things that it lacks today. Foremost, it has licensed its Aurora reactor for commercial deployment.
Second, it has secured enough high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to support its reactors, a fuel that is scarce in the U.S. Third, it has proven it can scale its Aurora to attractive economics, meaning reactor margins are wide and profits are large. Lastly, it has deployed these reactors safely to a large enough customer base, which forms a solid foundation of recurring revenue.
These are all things I think Oklo can do. Its Aurora reactor is advancing through the Department of Energy's authorization process, and the company continues to target 2028 for the deployment of its first reactor. It has signed a letter of intent to purchase HALEU from Centrus Energy (NYSE: LEU).
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