NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) stock jumped more than 15% in a single trading session last week, catching the attention of nuclear energy investors across the market.
No major company announcements or new Wall Street analyst reports accompanied the spike, leaving market watchers searching for a clear explanation.
The rally appeared to reflect broader renewed interest in small modular reactor developers, with SMR peer Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) also climbing roughly 7% during the same period.
Despite the sharp single-day gains, both stocks remain well below their earlier highs, with NuScale down 28% for the year and Oklo shares off approximately 44%.
The concept of small modular reactors has existed for decades, yet only two SMR systems have ever been built globally, largely due to cost constraints relative to conventional nuclear plants.
Historically, larger nuclear power plants delivered cheaper per-megawatt costs, and with electricity demand growing predictably through much of the early 2000s, speed was rarely a priority for developers.
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed that equation, driving a significant and sustained surge in energy demand that the existing grid is not equipped to handle.
AI companies racing to build data center infrastructure as quickly as possible need reliable power sources fast, placing SMR developers like NuScale and Oklo squarely in the spotlight.
NuScale has already secured a list of potential customers, including a notable 6-gigawatt deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority that, if completed, would represent the largest such system in the world.
On September 3, OpenAI announced that its new model would enable artificial general intelligence, or AGI, a development that analysts believe could push AI capital expenditure expectations even higher than prior estimates.
This AI-driven tailwind arrives at a critical moment for NuScale, which is approaching a significant milestone in the form of a power purchase agreement for its 6-gigawatt SMR system in the eastern United States.
A signed power purchase agreement would legally commit a utility customer to purchasing power from the project for years, representing one of the strongest possible signals of real-world SMR adoption.
NuScale’s CFO has expressed hopes of signing a power purchase agreement before the end of 2026, a development that could serve as a major catalyst for the stock and the broader SMR sector.
Skepticism about real-world adoption has weighed heavily on SMR valuations throughout 2026, making the potential signing of a binding commercial agreement all the more consequential for investor sentiment.
Nuclear energy investors watching this space should keep a close eye on that upcoming PPA milestone, as it could either validate or further test the bull case for small modular reactor technology.
