Latest news with #VOYGR
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is NuScale Power Stock a Millionaire Maker?
As artificial intelligence use cases grow, the demand for energy from data centers is set to skyrocket. This ever-increasing need for power opens doors for innovative energy solutions, and nuclear energy is rapidly coming back in favor, backed by nations eager to embrace it. Enter NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), an innovator in advanced small modular reactors that could revolutionize how nuclear energy is distributed. These compact reactors promise efficient deployment and could help reduce the cost of deploying nuclear power. Could investing in NuScale be your ticket to millionaire status? Let's explore the company and its opportunity to find out. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are cutting-edge technology that could change nuclear power generation as we know it. Founded in 2007, NuScale designs compact SMRs that could provide a scalable, efficient, and safer alternative to traditional nuclear plants. Its NuScale Power Module is the first SMR to receive a standard design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), giving NuScale a critical first-mover advantage over peers. The NRC has approved its 50 megawatt-electric (MWe) design, and NuScale is looking to upsize that reactor to 77 MWe and expects this larger version to receive approval sometime this year. Up to 12 modules can be assembled per plant, providing up to 924 MWe in energy. NuScale has significant backing from Fluor, a construction company that provides services across industries, including energy. Since 2011, Fluor has invested over $600 million in NuScale to support its development and has been instrumental in helping NuScale bring its VOYGR power plant to the market. NuScale is looking to build its plants efficiently and is targeting existing coal plants, which could save up to 15% to 35% on construction costs. With Fluor's help, NuScale is developing a small modular reactor power station at a former coal plant in Doicești, Romania. This project is known as the VOYGR-6 SMR power plant and will consist of six NuScale Power Modules and generate 462 megawatts of electricity. The project is backed by public and private funding, including contributions from the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. Export-Import Bank has committed up to $99 million for initial work, with additional funding of up to $4 billion being considered for the project's deployment. NuScale's technology is exciting, but investors shouldn't ignore the risks of buying the stock. For one, the company continues to rack up losses as it works to get its technology approved and build its facilities. Over the last 12 months, NuScale has lost $137 million against $37 million in revenue. In the fourth quarter, the company bolstered its balance sheet with $446.7 million in cash -- providing it with a runway for the next few years. Second, it will take several years before NuScale achieves widespread commercial operations. The target date for opening its Romanian plant is 2029, and four years is a long time when things could go wrong. Any cancellations (such as with its UAMPS project a couple of years ago), delays, or a lack of customer interest would be detrimental for the stock. NuScale Power has long-term potential and could be a key player in helping countries deploy nuclear power on a large scale. Over the past few years, 31 countries have signed a Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy by 2050. If NuScale's products work well and prove cheaper and more efficient, it could grow tremendously. NuScale certainly has millionaire-maker potential once it gains footing, but it remains highly speculative at this point, leaving it best suited for aggressive investors. Even so, those wishing to own the stock should maintain a small position as part of a more extensive, diverse portfolio and build up that position over time as NuScale reaches key milestones and works toward commercial operations at scale. Before you buy stock in NuScale Power, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and NuScale Power wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $469,399!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $590,231!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 731% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 146% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 5, 2025 Courtney Carlsen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is NuScale Power Stock a Millionaire Maker? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colorado Utility Looking at Adding Nuclear Power to Fleet
A volunteer advisory group told the utility that serves Colorado's second-largest city that it should look at adding a small nuclear reactor for additional power generation. Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) said it is reviewing the recommendation from the Utility Policy Advisory Committee (UPAC). That committee, which is not affiliated with the utility, in June of last year began researching the feasibility of nuclear energy for CSU. The volunteer group looked at current technology for small modular reactors (SMRs), along with regulatory, permitting, and environmental issues for a nuclear power project. The independent committee also looked at potential costs for CSU to add nuclear power to its portfolio. State lawmakers in the current legislative session have discussed whether nuclear power would qualify as "clean energy" in Colorado. A recently introduced bill, House Bill 25-1040—"Nuclear Energy as Clean Energy"—on Feb. 20 passed on second reading in the statehouse. Another site floated for a possible nuclear power plant is Pueblo in the southern part of the state. Xcel Energy, the state's largest electric utility, as part of its phase-out of coal-fired generation is expected to retire the 857-MWE Unit 3 of its Comanche Generating Station by 2031. The utility retired the 383-MW Unit 1 in 2022, and the similar Unit 2 is set to be closed this year. Xcel operates two nuclear power plants in its headquarters state of Minnesota. Kate Danner, chairperson for UPAC, told Colorado Springs television station KRDO, "We definitely think [adding nuclear] is something that needs to be on the radar of Colorado Springs Utilities. One of the advantages of those is that you can build onto [an SMR], so you can start with maybe like 50 megawatts [of output] and then add on different [SMRs] as your capacity needs increase." The utility has overhauled its power generation fleet in recent years. CSU brought the 175-MW Pike Solar project online in December 2023. The group permanently closed the long-running, coal-fired 208-MW Martin Drake power plant in 2022. CSU also plans to shutter its last coal-fired plant, the 207-MW Ray Nixon facility, by the end of the decade. The utility also has plans to add more wind, solar, and battery storage to its portfolio. [caption id="attachment_225888" align="alignnone" width="640"] NuScale's VOYGR small modular reactor was the first SMR to receive design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Courtesy: NuScale[/caption] UPAC in its report to CSU listed examples of companies involved in the SMR sector, and estimated costs of such projects, including for construction. Those ranged from $12.9 billion for NuScale, an Oregon-based company considered among the leaders of U.S. companies in the SMR space; $10.7 billion for X-energy, a Maryland-based nuclear engineering group; and $7.4 billion for TerraPower, which broke ground last year on a nuclear power project in neighboring Wyoming. TerraPower, based in Washington state, was founded by investors including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Danner noted that the timeline for an SMR project could be as along as decade. The UPAC group also noted that Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) in 2023 canceled a $9 billion SMR project that had been discussed for several years. Investors backed away from the project as costs continued to rise. Danner said CSU could work on power purchase agreements or other partnerships with Colorado utilities such as Xcel, Black Hills Energy, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission membership cooperative, or Nebraska Public Power, which operates the 835-MW Cooper Nuclear Station. Mark Stutz, a spokesperson for Tri-State, recently told POWER, "Tri-State supports House Bill 25-1040. To meet Colorado's greenhouse gas reduction goals, adding this firm, baseload resource to the state's 'clean energy resource' definition encourages the continued develop of advanced nuclear generation technology as a viable resource option for utilities in the coming decade." Colorado has no operating nuclear power plants. The 330-MW Fort St. Vrain facility, which opened in 1979, was closed a decade later. It remains the state's first and only nuclear power station. Fort St. Vrain today is home to a 716-MW natural gas-fired power plant owned by Xcel. —Darrell Proctor is senior editor for POWER.
