NEW YORK, Jan 12, 2026, 12:06 PM EST — Regular session
- NuScale Power shares retreat roughly 0.6% by midday, slipping after an initial rise
- A company-backed study is focusing on chemical plants that require both steam and power
- Investors are tuned in for insights from management at conferences scheduled this week
NuScale Power Corp shares slipped in midday trading Monday following the release of a study on using its small modular reactors to provide steam and electricity to chemical plants. “NuScale continues to lead … to provide process heat and electricity,” said José Reyes, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer. Business Wire
The report is key as NuScale works to convert its reactor design into actual contracts. Securing industrial customers who need reliable steam and power would expand its market beyond utilities, offering investors a fresh metric to judge if the technology can hold its own on price.
This comes as investors continue to view nuclear developers as headline-sensitive plays. While a study isn’t a binding agreement, it has the power to recalibrate expectations about what a “first project” entails—and how large it should be.
NuScale teamed up with Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a two-year “techno-economic assessment” — a deep dive into cost and returns modeling. They ran scenarios mixing NuScale Power Modules, gas boilers, and hybrid setups, benchmarking against actual plant conditions and historical data. The study found a 12-module configuration to be the most profitable, thanks to its ability to sell surplus electricity to the grid. Meanwhile, a minimum four-module setup combined with boilers could cover the plant’s power needs, and an eight-module layout provided “N-2 redundancy,” meaning it could operate even if two modules went offline. nuscalepower.com
Before the market opened, NuScale stood out on Nasdaq’s premarket activity list, rising $0.14 to $20.65 with over 1.1 million shares changing hands.
NuScale is betting on small modular reactors — factory-built nuclear units designed to be deployed in multiples. But the sector’s history is riddled with delays and cost overruns. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave the green light to NuScale’s uprated 77-megawatt design in 2025, following earlier approval of a 50-megawatt version. Since scrapping its first U.S. project in 2023 due to rising costs, the company has been hunting for new customers.
The downside is clear: modeled economics can unravel if financing costs climb, build schedules delay, or customers hesitate over multi-year lead times. Even a promising industrial niche requires permits, partners, and funding — and those elements rarely line up neatly.
This week, traders are on the lookout for more than just modeling data from NuScale. According to the company’s investor calendar, key conference appearances are lined up: Monday at UBS’s winter energy and utilities event, then Needham’s growth conference on Jan. 15, and TD Securities’ winter summit on Jan. 26.
The company’s most recent quarterly update came in November, leaving investors eager for clearer guidance on commercialization costs and when customer commitments might materialize.
