Nuclear energy is one of the most exciting growth opportunities in the energy industry. Electricity generated by splitting the atom is the cleanest and among the safest options available, by far.
Now, thanks to the power needs of artificial intelligence (AI), nuclear energy is enjoying a renaissance. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that in their baseline estimate, AI's draw on global electrical consumption is set to double by 2030.
In response to both the needs of AI and a push for greater energy independence, the United States Department of Energy has set a goal to triple America's nuclear energy production by 2050.
The long-time scale of nuclear operations often makes the companies operating in the sector attractive dividend-investment opportunities. These two article are some of the most interesting nuclear dividend plays right now.
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Atomic dividend
Up first is Dominion Energy (D +1.01%), a Virginia-based power company that doesn't exclusively focus on nuclear energy. It does own and operate four nuclear power plants on the East Coast. The Millstone Nuclear plant in Connecticut, operated by Dominion, generates half of that state's electricity on its own.
The main reason for holding Dominion is the yield, which currently sits at 4.19%. As a utility company, Dominion's growth is slow and steady. It maintains an operating margin of 29.45% and, despite a high payout ratio of 99.6%, it has brought that number down from 2024, when it was 121.3%.
NYSE: D
Key Data Points
One of Dominion's main advantages is its location. Most of the company's operations, including two of its nuclear plants, are in Virginia, which has become the country's most energy-hungry state, due to the sheer number of data centers being constructed there.
Give Dominion a look. It has a high yield and is at the epicenter of America's data center buildout.
Big power, small reactor
Also based in Virginia, BWX Technologies (BWXT +0.94%) has been a leading producer of nuclear propulsion systems for the U.S. Navy. It has built almost 400 ship-mounted reactors since the 1950s.
Naval reactors remain BWX's bread and butter. More recently, however, the company has been putting its expertise in building pint-sized power plants toward developing small modular reactors (SMR).
NYSE: BWXT
Key Data Points
These are essentially miniature factory-built nuclear power plants that occupy far less space than a conventional nuclear plant but can generate large quantities of power, relative to their size. The idea is that they could power data centers so they don''t have to draw from the local grid and drive up energy prices for people living there.
None of these reactors have yet been deployed, but the technology is promising. Even without it, BWX has been seeing incredible growth lately. In its most recently reported quarter (Q3 2025), BWX saw revenue grow 29%, net income grow 19%, and earnings per share (EPS) surge 20% year over year.
BWX Technologies' dividend doesn't yield anywhere near what Dominion's does -- it sits at 0.5% at current prices. However, while Dominion's dividend is high-yielding but somewhat stagnant, BWX's is growing at a nice clip.
The company has raised its dividend in each of the past five years at an annualized growth rate of 4.28% over that time frame. With a payout ratio of just 26%, BWX has a lot of room to keep growing that dividend.
Give BWX a look. It's a serious innovator in nuclear technology with a dividend that, like the company's reactors, is small but has serious potential.
