Key Points
NuScale Power's stock has been on a volatility roller coaster.
It has a nuclear reactor design approved, but it will be years before one is built.
Heavy cash burn will likely sink this stock further.
Nuclear energy stocks have gone through a boom and bust over the last 12 months. NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) is a prime example of this stock market trend, with shares rising 500% at one point in the past three years before violently falling back to earth.
In 2026, this trend has continued. NuScale Power's stock is down 38% this year. And yet, there is still a need for massive amounts of new electric power for future artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, which nuclear power is well positioned to provide.
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Where could that lead NuScale Power shares five years from now?
Small nuclear reactors for AI data centers
By now, many readers are aware of the electricity needs for the upcoming AI data center investments. You may be well aware of them when looking at your current electric bills. This has not only become an economic issue but also a political one, in which government agencies, large and small, are trying to pass rules requiring AI infrastructure providers to pay for exclusive power agreements to avoid overly burdening residential electric bills.
Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) are theoretically a perfect solution for this problem, and NuScale Power has the only design approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Because of this, the company has partnered with ENTRA1 Energy as its commercial partner to develop power plants for these small nuclear reactors.
After this tie-up, the Tennessee Valley Authority committed to buying 6 gigawatts of power utilizing NuScale's SMR technology, which could mean a boom in future demand. However, as of the summer of 2026, NuScale Power has never built a nuclear reactor, even though its designs were approved years ago.
Image source: Getty Images.
Where will NuScale stock be five years from now?
While there is a lot of excitement about providing electricity for the AI revolution in the next few years, NuScale Power's development timeline with ENTRA1 Energy is much longer. Its projects with the Tennessee Valley Authority, Poland, and Romania will not generate revenue until 2030, assuming no further delays. This is going to miss the meat of the AI data center build-out, which is why the boom is primarily being supplied by natural gas.
Right now, NuScale Power's free cash flow is highly negative, at $750 million over the last 12 months, while revenue is negligible. If this continues -- as it looks like it will -- the stock will be much lower five years from now.
Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.