NuScale Power Drops 7% as Nuclear Stocks Hand Back the Vote Rally; Oklo Falls 5%, Centrus Energy Slides 3%

Shares of NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) are sliding in Friday morning trading, giving back the policy-driven advance nuclear developers posted a day earlier. NuScale Power stock is at $8.45, down 7% midday. The decline leaves NuScale Power stock down 40% year to date (YTD), a reminder of how much the story has already been re-priced this year.

The selling isn’t confined to one name. Oklo (NYSE:OKLO | OKLO Price Prediction) shares are down 5% to $37.57, extending a rough stretch for the pre-revenue advanced reactor developer. Centrus Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:LEU) shares are down 3% to $144.66, a milder pullback in the cash-generative uranium enricher.

Two funds frame the session. The Global X Uranium ETF (NYSEARCA:URA) is down 2%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is off 0.1%. That divergence tells the story: the selling sits in nuclear names, not in the wider market.

Policy Rally Retraces

Thursday’s advance had a legislative catalyst. The House of Representatives passed the Ratepayer Protection Act on Wednesday, a measure that requires large energy users such as data centers to pay for the generation, transmission and grid upgrades needed to serve them, rather than spreading those costs across a utility’s other customers. Dedicated power sources look more attractive when data centers carry their own bill, and small modular reactor developers rallied on that reasoning.

Traders had bid up nuclear developers into Thursday’s session on the view that the legislation shifts data center power economics in favor of dedicated generation. NuScale Power sits at the center of that thesis given its position in small modular reactor development, so any policy that pulls forward commercial demand tends to move the shares hard in both directions. Friday’s fade suggests some of that enthusiasm was tactical.

Friday’s action reverses much of that move. NuScale Power’s decline looks like a policy rally handing back gains rather than a lasting re-rating of the underlying business. One vote in one chamber can’t undo what months of trading have priced into NuScale Power shares, and NuScale Power stock’s YTD drop is the frame that matters more than any single session.

Holtec Cancellation Sits in the Background

Weighing on mood is a separate development. Holtec International, a privately held nuclear components supplier that had planned to use listing proceeds to expand into small modular reactor development, cancelled its planned initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday. Holtec’s chief executive attributed the decision to the market turning against the artificial intelligence data center economy, describing conditions as a perfect storm and saying the company’s business is viewed as tied to data centers. (We profiled seven of the suppliers behind that same data center buildout, from power to cooling, in a free report you can grab here.)

Peers Follow the Move

Oklo and Centrus Energy trading lower alongside NuScale Power supports a group reading. The former remains pre-revenue and speculative, while Centrus Energy is a cash-flowing enricher with a real backlog, and the two pulling back together, with very different business models, points to sector positioning rather than a company-specific problem at NuScale Power.

The Global X Uranium ETF’s 2% slip against the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust’s 0.1% drift confirms the shape of the day. That is rotation out of nuclear names rather than a broad risk-off session. When broad benchmarks sit still while one theme unwinds, the pressure usually reflects positioning being trimmed after a fast run.

What to Watch

Investors can watch for whether NuScale Power stock holds above $8, since a second red session on heavy volume would suggest more than just profit-taking. Traders may want to keep an eye on whether the uranium fund stabilizes, since a bounce there tends to lead the developers back up.

Given how far SMR stock has fallen year to date, position sizing should stay modest for anyone adding to their exposure in NuScale Power. The commercial story around NuScale Power is intact, but its volatility is real, and Friday’s move is a reminder that policy-driven rallies in the shares can unwind as quickly as they form.

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