President Trump recently signed an executive order aimed at giving the nuclear energy industry a boost. The president wants to overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and speed up the development of new nuclear power reactors in the country. The order could power a resurgence in the sector.
NuScale Power(NYSE: SMR), Constellation Energy(NASDAQ: CEG), and Cameco(NYSE: CCJ) stand out to a few Fool.com contributors as nuclear energy stocks that could benefit from the industry's renaissance. Here's a closer look at why they could produce powerful returns for investors if the nuclear energy sector's resurgence gains steam.
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NuScale Power has a new power model to offer
Reuben Gregg Brewer (NuScale Power): When President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will help to speed up the adoption of nuclear power in the United States, NuScale Power's stock rallied. A lot of nuclear power stocks did the same, but NuScale's rally brought the shares back up to all-time highs.
There's both risk and opportunity here. NuScale Power's price advance is being driven by emotions, since the company doesn't technically have a product to sell just yet. But the small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) it is attempting to build are a very exciting advance in nuclear power.
SMRs are built in a factory, which makes them cheaper, easier, and quicker to build than large, site-built nuclear power plants. Their small size also means they can be transported to where they are needed and placed closer to population centers. The inclusion of modern safeguards, meanwhile, reduces the risk of a high-profile meltdown.
If NuScale Power can start selling its SMRs, it has a huge opportunity ahead of it as nuclear power demand increases. The most exciting thing here, however, is that the big turning point for the business is likely to take shape later in 2025. That's when RoPower, a Romanian power company, will make the final call on whether it will buy six SMRs from NuScale Power. Once the first deal is inked, additional deals are likely to be easier to come by.
A lot has to go right for NuScale Power before it has a sustainably profitable business, making execution a risk to keep close tabs on. But if the dominos keep falling into place, the nuclear renaissance could lead to material long-term gains for early investors in this growth stock.
A nuclear powerhouse
Matt DiLallo (Constellation Energy): Constellation Energy is the country's leader in producing nuclear power by a wide margin. It currently owns 22.1 gigawatts (GWs) of competitive nuclear power generation capacity, nearly four times that of rival Vistra (6.3 GWs).
Unlike utilities that own power generation assets and distribute the electricity to customers, Constellation sells the power it produces to other utilities and large corporate customers under long-term, fixed-rate power purchase agreements (PPAs). This strategy can enable it to cash in on higher power rates.
The company is investing heavily on expanding its clean energy operations. It signed a deal with Microsoft late last year to support the restart of its Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear plant, which it shut down several years ago for economic reasons. However, Microsoft's need for clean power to support its cloud and AI growth led the tech giant to sign a 20-year contract for all the power produced from this nuclear plant when it comes back online in 2028. Constellation is also exploring other nuclear power growth opportunities, including SMRs.
On top of that, Constellation is investing in other cleaner energy sources, like renewables and natural gas. It's in the process of significantly expanding its leading clean power operations by acquiring Calpine, which is a leader in natural gas and geothermal energy.
These investments position Constellation to deliver powerful earnings growth in the coming years. It's on track to grow its adjusted operating earnings at a more than 13% compound annual rate through 2030 on a stand-alone basis. It can grow even faster if it closes its Calpine deal. Meanwhile, the nuclear resurgence could power additional growth over the longer term.
A rare dividend-paying nuclear fuel stock
Neha Chamaria (Cameco): President Trump wants to speed up the design and build-out of nuclear reactors and quadruple the nation's nuclear energy capacity by 2050 to make it a major source of power. However, while investors expect companies building nuclear reactors and generating nuclear energy to be the biggest beneficiaries from Trump's pro-nuclear stance, the supply side of the equation is going unnoticed.
The thing is, nuclear power plants run on uranium. That means demand for uranium should rise, too, as more nuclear reactors come online. That makes a stock like Cameco a solid pick to play Trump's nuclear renaissance. Cameco was, in fact, hugely bullish about the uranium industry before Trump signed the executive order.
Earlier in May, Cameco estimated that nearly 70% of the total estimated uranium fuel requirements of nuclear reactors worldwide through 2045 remain uncovered. In other words, upcoming nuclear reactors will have to buy nearly 3.2 billion pounds of uranium to power their plants. For perspective, only around 119 million pounds of uranium were contracted by utilities in 2024 under long-term contracts.
Since Cameco is one of the largest uranium producers in the world, its outlook is closely followed by the uranium and nuclear energy industry. Cameco is already witnessing an uptick in long-term uranium contracting activity. To top that, Cameco also owns a 49% stake in Westinghouse Electric, which supplies nuclear technology, equipment, fuel, and services for nuclear reactors. Westinghouse, therefore, provides an edge to Cameco over other uranium miners.
Cameco is also a financially strong company and has even paid a dividend every year since 1991, also increasing it by 33% last year. Combine all of it, and Cameco looks like a smart nuclear stock to buy and hold.
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Matt DiLallo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Constellation Energy and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Cameco and NuScale Power and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
