The nuclear renaissance represents an exciting opportunity for investors to allocate their capital to some of the most technologically advanced methods of electricity production. Common questions that come to mind though are (1) who are the reactor developers in the public market and (2) what reactors are they working on? It’s an incredibly diverse landscape of options and investors need to understand the technology they are investing in.
Two of the most frequently discussed reactor developers are Westinghouse and Oklo. This note takes a closer look at the reactors under development by these two companies, as their designs cover a wide array of sizes and technology. There are multiple other companies working on additional advanced technologies – they will be discussed in follow-on articles.
Westinghouse (Cameco Corporation (CCJ))
As the 49% owner of Westinghouse, an investment in CCJ offers exposure to one of the biggest and oldest reactor developers in the world. Westinghouse built the majority of the reactors currently operating in the US commercial fleet and has three reactor designs.
The AP1000 a traditional large, pressurized, light water reactor with an electrical capacity of over 1,000 megawatts. It operates with Gen III+ technology, meaning the reactor safety features include passive protection. Passive safety systems allow for extended periods of time of assured reactor safety without any required actions by operators or safety systems that need electrical power.
The AP1000 has been constructed in the U.S. with mixed results. Two AP1000 reactors were successfully constructed at the Vogtle site in Georgia. These reactors suffered significant delays and cost overruns from a laundry list of issues including incomplete designs, poor supply chain coordination, regulatory hurdles, and COVID.
The struggles and delays were so great that the additional two AP1000 reactors that were being constructed at the VC summer site in South Carolina were abandoned mid-construction. Thankfully, the nuclear renaissance has created enough economic incentive for the VC summer reactors to be completed. The partially completed plant was recently sold to Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) in preparation for construction restarting.
The AP300 is a scaled-down version of the AP1000. The plant has an electrical output of about 300 megawatts and shares all the same technology as its parent design. With the scaled down electrical output capacity and size of the supporting systems, the facility will ideally take up a significantly smaller footprint and be more suitable for electrical grids that are too small for an entire AP1000 plant.
The eVinci microreactor is Westinghouse’s third reactor design, significantly smaller than its other two reactors. The eVinci is only 5 megawatts and falls into the category of Gen IV reactor technology. It utilizes an advanced coolant and fuel material, along with fully passive safety systems. It features the use of tri-structural isotropic fuel, referred to as TRISO, which is an advanced, robust fuel consisting of uranium encased in multiple ceramic layers. It is designed for more unique use cases including remote mining operations and other diesel generator replacements.
It’s important to note that Westinghouse is not just a reactor developer. Their business segments include a significant presence in the nuclear fuel chain with fuel fabrication services and maintenance of operating nuclear facilities. Westinghouse’s parent company, Cameco, also stands as one of the largest uranium producers in the world with their flagship projects at MacArthur River and Cigar Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. Cameco also operates one of only three uranium conversion facilities in the western world, taking processed uranium ore and turning it into uranium gas in preparation for enrichment by companies like Centrus Energy (LEU) or Urenco (private).
Oklo (OKLO)
Oklo currently has three reactor designs as well, but they are extremely different from the designs developed by Westinghouse. Oklo’s flagship model is the Aurora sodium reactor. This reactor operates on the same principle as every other nuclear reactor, meaning it controls the splitting of uranium atoms and the heat generated from that reaction. But, instead of using water to transfer heat from the core to the steam system, the Aurora reactor utilizes liquid sodium.
Sodium has been used in reactor designs around the world, including in one of the first reactors installed on a nuclear submarine. Sodium reactors offer multiple advantages, including improved heat transfer and more effective passive cooling features. The Aurora reactor is designed with an electrical output of 75 megawatts.
Oklo’s second reactor design is being developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Atomic Alchemy. This reactor is less novel than the Aurora design and is very similar to other research reactors, such as the TRIGA reactor at North Carolina State University. The reactor is not designed for generating electricity to power a data center or a grid. Instead, it is for irradiating different materials to produce unique isotopes that can be used in a range of applications, including medical sciences and defense applications.
The newest and least-discussed reactor design from Oklo is the Pluto reactor. As the name implies, Pluto runs on plutonium fuel, as opposed to uranium. The Pluto reactor is designed for complementing the used nuclear fuel recycling technology in development by Oklo, as the unique capabilities of this reactor allow it to utilize non-traditional nuclear fuel. Very few additional technical details have been released regarding the reactor’s design and possible electrical capacity.
Oklo is also more than just a company of reactor designs, as they are developing in-house fuel fabrication capacity. The fuel they are researching is a form factor capable of being used in reactor designs that utilize liquid metal cooling, including their own sodium reactors or potentially lead-cooled reactors like those designed by Blykalla (private).
CCJ and OKLO are constituents of the VettaFi Nuclear Renaissance Index (NUKZX). NUKZX is the underlying index for the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ).
For more on nuclear’s comeback, please join our 30-minute webcast on March 19 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Register here.
Related Research:
A New Wave of Federal Nuclear Support & Coordination
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Not All Nuclear Exposure Is Created Equally
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