NuScale Power (SMR 2.71%), the nuclear technology company, saw its stock hit a 52-week high of $57 in October 2025 before imploding. Now the stock trades at just above $13 a share, with a decline of almost 18% in 2026.
If you had bought NuScale at $57 and held on until it fell to $13, your investment would have lost about three-quarters of its original value.
NYSE: SMR
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That's a harsh lesson in volatility. But it's not all doom and gloom. NuScale is gaining momentum again. And, with the price check behind it, this nuclear energy stock could easily trade above $20 before the end of the year.
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NuScale's first project gets the green light
If you've watched NuScale Power stock for any length of time, you know the predicament: It is currently the only U.S. company that has a small modular reactor (SMR) design licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, yet it also lacks a firm sale of that technology.
The company has had some projects lined up, including one with the Idaho National Labs, which was cancelled due to higher than expected construction costs. But none have gone through construction, and, as such, NuScale's technology does not exist commercially out in the wild.
That, however, looks like it's going to change.
One of NuScale's most promising projects, an SMR power plant construction in Romania, just moved into the implementation phase. The project, in conjunction with RoPower Nuclear, will see six of NuScale's SMRs deployed for a total of 462 megawatts of power generation capacity.
The kicker? Commercial operations are expected in 2033 -- a seven-year wait.
But that's not all in the works for this SMR developer. In late 2025, NuScale agreed to deploy up to six gigawatts of SMR power generation across seven states for the Tennessee Valley Authority. That's about thirteen times larger than the RoPower project.
A $3 trillion nuclear opportunity
Let's also not forget the larger opportunity that's dangling like low fruit in front of the nuclear sector: artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers.
To meet surging demand for electricity, global nuclear capacity will have to triple by 2050, according to research by Bank of America. Investment in the nuclear industry over that same span of time will reach $3 trillion, with SMR technology becoming a critical piece of that large buildout.
If NuScale captured even 5% of that $3 trillion investment, that could result in $150 billion in reactor deployments or other infrastructure adjacent projects tied to its technology.
Let's look at the full picture, though. NuScale hasn't deployed it technology at a large scale, and we don't know what operating costs will be. It's currently burning through cash, and revenue growth over the next two years will likely be steady but not explosive.
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Analysts on average have assigned a price target of about $29 a share for NuScale stock, about 123% higher than today's price. The stock, however, is nowhere near stable, and it will be volatile until it can deploy its technology at a steady pace. The stock has potential to rise above $20 again. But only consider it if your investing style is aggressive and you can afford to part ways with your money.
