nuclear-news

Small Nuclear Reactor developer groups raise $1.5bn amid race to power AI boom

Developers of small modular nuclear reactors have raised at least $1.5bn in
funding over the past year, tapping into a surge of investor interest
linked to power supply deals agreed with Big Tech.

They have also secured pledges of billions of dollars of support from governments, amid a global race to launch new technologies considered critical to powering the
artificial intelligence revolution.

The largest fundraising of $700mn was closed this month by X-energy, a US developer that added Jane Street and other institutional investors to a register that included technology giantAmazon,

Ken Griffin, founder and chief executive of Citadel and chemical
company Dow. Paris-based developer Newcleo raised $151mn in September and
US-based developers Blue Energy and Last Energy raised $45mn and $40mn
respectively last year.

Nano Nuclear Energy, a developer of microreactors
which listed in May, raised $134mn capital in 2024. Three SMR developers
listed in New York, Oklo, NuScale and Nano Nuclear, raised more than $700mn
through share sales and other financing mechanisms over the past 12 months,
according to a Financial Times analysis of public records and data from
PitchBook and BloombergNEF.

Westinghouse, Rolls-Royce, Holtec
International, GE Hitachi and Bill Gates’ TerraPower are also among a host
of companies investing in about 60 SMR projects globally, according to
World Nuclear Association data. Amazon’s purchase of a stake in X-energy
and Google’s power supply deal with SMR developer Kairos Power, which both
occurred in October, have shaken up a funding market that soured in 2023
because of high interest rates and inflation.

But analysts warn developers
still face technical, regulatory and funding risks despite the improved
sentiment.

FT 19th Feb 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/2d84198e-7eeb-4154-bbf2-9a469b0cc700

February 23, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors