US NuScale Power CEO John Hopkins, introducing the company’s first quarter results, said NuScale “continued to take proactive steps to build on our leadership as the first and only SMR provider to receive NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] design approval” He added: “With 12 modules already in the manufacturing process, we further readied our supply chain to ensure we stay on course to achieve our 2030 delivery target.”
He noted that “alongside our exclusive commercialisation partner ENTRA Energy, we are in advanced dialogue with several prospective customers across governments and industries, including data centres, utilities, coal plant operators transitioning to nuclear, and petrochemical and energy companies”. He said NuScale “has built a solid foundation across our business, and we are excited for the opportunities ahead of us this year”.
In the first quarter, revenue increased by $12m to $13.4m compared with $1.4m for the same period in 2024. This increase was driven by revenues generated from the FEED Phase 2 project and the Technology License Agreement for the RoPower Doicești power plant.
Operating expense decreased by $2.3m to $42.3m compared with $44.6m in 2024. “This decrease was primarily driven by lower research and development expenses, partially offset by higher general and administrative expenses as NuScale continued to transition from research and development to commercialisation.”
NuScale Power Corporation, founded in 2007, is developing the NuScale Power Module, a small pressurised water reactor that can each generate 77 MWe or 250 MWt and can be scaled to meet customer needs through an array of flexible configurations up to 924 MWe (12 modules) of output.
During a first-quarter earnings call Hopkins said the company is in advanced discussions with several potential customers for its small modular reactor (SMR) technology and could deliver an operating power plant in 2030 “if we get closure on a deal here soon”.
NuScale expects approval from NRC in July for its uprated 77 MWe SMR design. Hopkins said manufacturing partner Doosan has 12 NuScale modules in production and could deliver 20 a year as orders materialise.
NuScale continues Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) as a subcontractor for Fluor Corporation’s 462-MWe power plant project in Romania but has yet to finalise a module supply deal of its own, although this could change soon, Hopkins suggested. “Our focus right now is to get closure on near-term contracts. We are no longer chasing or announcing [memoranda of understanding],” he said. “We’re actually in the process of submitting and negotiating term sheets.” Possible early power customers include large data centre operators, other heavy industrial customers and utilities, NuScale said.
NuScale Chief Financial Officer Ramsey Hamady said any deal would involve multiple parties. While the module buyer may be a power plant operator, it would likely work with an offtaker, probably a “tier one data centre or AI developer”, he said.
Although NuScale has courted IT and AI customers, its Q1 2025 investor presentation highlighted its SMR’s usefulness for energy-intensive operations such as large-scale hydrogen electrolysis, water desalination, carbon capture and petrochemical production. It also stressed the company’s “confidence in a firm customer order by the end of 2025”.
However, Hamady noted that multiple orders in the first year might be a challenge given the present tightness of the nuclear supply chain. “Once we have a first contract, I think you’ll see more money going into the supply chain in order to increase capacity,” he added. “We’ll be in a great place if our biggest challenge is keeping up with orders.”
Until November 2023, NuScale appeared to be leading the field to deploy the first SMR in the US. Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and NuScale Power had agreed to the construction of six SMRs at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) as part of the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP).
However, the project was cancelled. “Despite significant efforts by both parties to advance the CFPP, it appears unlikely that the project will have enough subscription to continue toward deployment,” a joint statement said. In January 2024, NuScale had to lay off 28% of its workforce and NuScale’s stock price subsequently fell by more than 8% as investors sold off shares.
In October 2024, the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and Great British Nuclear reduced their shortlist of companies qualifying to take part in their SMR competition from six to four. The two companies dropped from the competition were EDF, and NuScale. However, European Commission (EC) later in October included NuScale in nine SMR projects selected for its initial round of applications to form Project Working Groups under the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs.
Meanwhile, in August 2024, it was reported that US law firm Pomerantz LLP was investigating claims on behalf of investors of NuScale Power Corporation as to whether NuScale and certain of its officers had engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. In July, Hunterbrook Media had reported that “the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of Enforcement is conducting an ‘active and ongoing’ investigation into NuScale”. The company is also being investigated by US law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.
