The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that artificial intelligence (AI) will double its electricity consumption over the next few years.
While there have been several solutions proposed to the problem of powering AI, one of the most compelling and promising is the small modular reactor (SMR).
SMRs work the same way as a full-sized nuclear power plant does, but on a smaller scale. They generate less power as a rule but they also require less space and resources which makes them great for powering a cluster of AI data centers.
There are several companies working on SMRs. But two of the most interesting, if somewhat speculative, ones are NuScale Power Corporation (SMR +3.83%) and Oklo (OKLO +3.03%). Neither is a company you would really want to place a big bet on right now, but they both have such potential that even a small position has the potential to pay off big time.
So, if you have some money you're willing to risk for a big potential return, which company should you invest in?
Image source: Getty Images.
Heavy metal
Let's start with Oklo, which has the more interesting technology but the far weaker financial position.
Oklo's Aurora SMR is a liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor. That means it uses liquid sodium metal as a coolant instead of water. Note that some other designs for this type of reactor use other liquid metals.
These metals cool the reactor without slowing down the neutrons creating the reaction. They can also handle higher temperatures more safely and run at lower pressures than their water-cooled counterparts. Their biggest advantage is that they can produce 90% less nuclear waste than water-cooled reactors.
While the Aurora reactor is interesting from a technical standpoint and it has gotten some interest from the government, namely a contract to put an Aurora reactor at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, the company generates no revenue whatsoever. And there's no revenue generation in sight until 2027 or maybe 2028.
NYSE: OKLO
Key Data Points
That makes Oklo incredibly speculative and it's why I prefer its SMR competitor NuScale.
Nu kid on the block
NuScale's SMR is a miniaturized conventional water-cooled reactor capable of being shipped from a factory and assembled at its final location.
And while Oklo has received some interest from the government, NuScale has been tapped to support the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the deployment of 6 gigawatts of SMR capacity (the largest SMR deployment program in U.S. history) across its seven-state service area.
The company is also working with Fluor (FLR +0.48%) on its Phase 2 Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) for Romania's RoPower Doicești plant. What's important about that is that it supplied NuScale with revenue to the tune of $7.8 million in Q3 2025 (its most recently reported quarter). That collaboration provided the bulk of NuScale's $8.2 million revenue for Q3.
NYSE: SMR
Key Data Points
NuScale also has high liquidity and a solid cash position. It holds $753.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, of which $407.6 million is cash.
Now, Oklo does have a larger cash and marketable securities total of $1.18 billion, of which $410 million is cash, but as I mentioned before, it isn't generating any revenue from its reactors or fuel recycling program.
So, for its stronger financial position, which alleviates some of the speculative risk, I have to say NuScale looks like the much stronger stock for a long-term speculative position. Give it a look if you're so inclined.
