To meet the increasing computing power demand of ai, us technology giants are competing to invest in clean energy nuclear power to power datacenters. This has also driven the continuous sharp rise of nuclear energy and related concept stocks this year.

On October 16, Amazon's announcement of investing over 0.5 billion dollars in developing small modular reactors (SMRs) once again ignited the nuclear power sector, with nuclear startups Oklo and NuScale Power Corp stocks skyrocketing over 40%, the latter hitting a new high and becoming the top two performing stocks on the NYSE overnight.

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and other large tech companies are all betting on nuclear energy, making nuclear energy stocks one of the best-performing sectors in the US stock market this year. Media reports recently stated that about one-third of US nuclear plant owners are in talks with tech companies to provide power for new data centers.

Oklo, NuScale driving the surge of nuclear energy stocks, with multiple stocks doubling in value this year.

As of the latest closing of the US stock market, nuclear energy startup NuScale rose by 40.01%, with a stock price of $19.07, hitting a historic high. The company's stock price has already multiplied by five this year, with a total increase of 507%.

NuScale is a company dedicated to developing transformative small modular reactor technology, based in Oregon, USA. Recently, the US Department of Energy initiated the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, with NuScale expected to complete America's first SMR around 2030.

Oklo rose nearly 42%, rising nearly 44% to a daily high of $16.77 during the day, approaching the all-time high of $18.80 set on May 10. The company's stock price has risen by over 56% this year.

Oklo has received support from Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, and is expected to launch its first reactor by 2027. The company uses liquid metal reactor technology to manufacture nuclear power plants with power ranging from 15 megawatts to 50 megawatts, considered a potential solution to the extreme energy demands brought by ai.

Overnight, other nuclear energy concept stocks also surged. Centrus Energy Corp, providing nuclear fuel and services to the nuclear power industry, rose by over 23%, while Cameco Corp, one of the world's largest uranium producers, rose by 8%. Emerging nuclear energy company Nano Nuclear Energy also surged nearly 37%. In the nuclear power etf sector, Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF rose by over 7%.

Nuclear energy stocks are also one of the best-performing sectors in the US stock market this year. Vistra, a US energy giant, has seen its stock price double this year, rising by 237%, making it the best-performing component stock of the s&p 500 index since 2024. Constellation Energy, the largest nuclear power plant operator in the US, ranked fourth in stock performance, with a cumulative increase of over 140% this year. Talen Energy, a nuclear energy company, also recorded a cumulative increase of about 150% this year.

Earlier this year, Vistra executives stated during an earnings conference call that the significant demand for electricity from data centers has led to a roughly 13% increase in the wholesale forward electricity price in northern Texas for 2026 since November last year. Benefiting from this, Vistra expects its adjusted Ebitda for 2026 to exceed $6 billion, about 24% higher than market expectations.

Following Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, amazon has become the latest tech giant to bet on nuclear energy.

Currently, nuclear energy is becoming a 'hot cake' for technology giants to seize the AI market. It was recently reported by the media that about one-third of US nuclear power plant owners are in talks with technology companies to provide electricity for newly built data centers.

On October 16th, Amazon signed three nuclear power supply agreements in one go, becoming a newly supportive technology company for nuclear energy development.

The company signed an agreement with utility Dominion Energy to invest over 0.5 billion US dollars to develop small modular reactors (SMRs) to power the cloud computing platform AWS. In addition, it also reached agreements with utility alliance Energy Northwest and other companies to support SMR development and provide funding.

Previously, Google, Oracle, and Microsoft have all coincidentally entered the game betting on nuclear energy:

• On October 14th, Google signed a power purchase agreement with a US nuclear power company, bullish on SMR for 'fast and safe' power supply.
• In September, Oracle's Chairman Larry Ellison announced that the company is designing a data center expected to require over 1 gigawatt of power, to be powered by three small nuclear reactors.
• In September, Microsoft reached an agreement with the largest nuclear reactor operator in the US, Constellation Energy, who agreed to sell all the power from their planned restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to Microsoft, providing energy for its energy-intensive AI data centers.

According to CCTV News analysis, in recent years, a new wave of global AI has emerged, with the hidden energy consumption issue increasingly prominent. Large technology companies are seeking solutions. Nuclear energy is seen as a more stable power source than solar and wind energy, so many tech companies are placing high hopes on it.