Nuclear Fuel Cycle (Uranium & Enrichment)

Westinghouse Electric is seeking a valuation of more than $50B in its U.S. initial public offering, with a filing targeted for as soon as October, though details including timing could still change, Bloomberg reported Friday. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are leading the IPO, with CIBC, J.P. Morgan Chase and Royal Bank of Canada also working on the listing. Westinghouse is jointly owned by Brookfield Renewable Partners and Cameco, which completed a deal in 2023 to buy a 49% stake in the company at a roughly $8B value. The company looks set to benefit from the Trump administration's efforts to boost the U.S. nuclear industry, and the U.S. Army recently selected it as one of five firms to build, own and operate its power plants. Westinghouse's nuclear power technology is used by 57% of the world's nuclear reactors, and it has a pipeline of as many as 91 opportunities for its latest generation reactor.

Oklo, the microreactor developer that went public through a SPAC merger on May 10, 2024, is targeting deployment of its first Aurora Powerhouse microreactors in Idaho in late 2027 or early 2028, with analysts expecting revenue to rise to $2 million in 2026, $8 million in 2027, and $53 million in 2028. The Aurora generates only 1.5 MWe on its own but is designed to be deployed alongside additional microreactors to build plants capable of generating up to 75 MWe, far below the over 1,000 MWe of a conventional nuclear plant, though its modular, factory-prefabricated design suits remote, off-grid sites and data center operators. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Oklo's Principal Design Criteria for the Aurora in June, and the company achieved criticality at Groves One, its first pilot isotope-production reactor, in early August, deploying it in just 229 days. Oklo's partnership with Meta Platforms, announced in January, aims to deliver 1.2 GW of power at a nuclear campus in Ohio, with initial phases expected online around 2030, and the company is working to convert a multi-gigawatt pipeline of non-binding letters of intent, including a 14 GW agreement with Switch, into firm Power Purchase Agreements. Oklo also signed an LOI to buy HALEU from Centrus Energy, one of the only companies authorized to produce and enrich HALEU in the United States, while carrying a $7.4 billion market cap that trades at 139 times its 2028 sales.

It was learned on the 16th that, in addition to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings and Japan Atomic Power Company, Kansai Electric Power and Tohoku Electric Power have indicated their intent to participate in the interim storage facility in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, which temporarily stores spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is hosting a two-day investment summit in Toronto starting Monday, aiming to attract global capital for more than 160 projects as Canada navigates a trade war with the United States. Confirmed attendees include BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone President Jon Gray, Temasek CEO Dilhan Pillay and APG Groep CEO Annette Mosman, with the summit matching roughly 100 global investors with Canadian CEOs, companies and local officials. Carney has pledged to attract C$1 trillion, or $721 billion, in investment over the next five years by cutting red tape and developing mining, energy, technology and infrastructure projects, though a government source said major deals could take 12 to 18 months to materialize. The prospectus includes 96 data centers in development, an equity investment in Xanadu's photonic quantum computer targeted for commercialization by 2029-2030, the Crawford Nickel Project, and C$900 million in financing sought for a proposed high-speed transportation pod between Calgary and Edmonton. Canada's foreign direct investment flows have averaged around C$23 billion per quarter in 2024 and 2025, up from C$16.3 billion in 2023 and C$15 billion in 2022, though BMO Capital Markets chief economist Doug Porter cautioned it is difficult to lure greenfield investment in a mature economy like Canada's.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that a new consensus on economic reform and future direction has taken hold across the country, ahead of the first-ever Canada Investment Summit, to be held in Toronto on September 14-15. The event aims to draw a total of 1 trillion Canadian dollars, or 720 billion US dollars, in investment over the next five years. The summit will present Canada's Deal Book, which compiles major projects in the energy, strategic minerals, advanced technology, and large-scale infrastructure sectors, in order to connect global capital with Canada's major projects, strengthen domestic supply chains, raise productivity, and reduce economic dependence on the United States. Carney told leading business figures that Canada is taking control of its own economic future, and will build more, trade more with one another, and trade more with the world.

Alphabet's Google announced at least 13 billion euros of digital infrastructure spending in Finland across 2027 and 2028, its largest single investment in Europe, covering data centers in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala. The project is expected to contribute an annual average of 3.6 billion euros to Finnish GDP during construction and support more than 37,000 jobs, with 7,000 jobs once operational. Google also signed a 22-year power purchase agreement with Fortum to fund the life extension of the Loviisa nuclear plant, which employs about 580 people and supplies 10% of Finland's electricity, with a separate memorandum covering possible new reactors at the site. Additionally, Google added 629 megawatts of new-to-grid onshore wind through Valorem and Suomen Hyotytuuli, and a 94-megawatt battery near Kajaani running from late 2027. Alphabet shares were down 3.03% intraday.

Shares of several energy companies rose in afternoon trading after crude oil prices climbed sharply following strikes on Saudi Arabian energy facilities and mounting supply disruption fears in the Middle East. The Saudi energy ministry reported that operations at several facilities in the country's south were halted after missile and drone strikes from Yemen's Houthis ignited fires, wounding more than 70 people. Saudi Aramco's oil facilities in Jizan, home to a major 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery, were targeted, causing local authorities to suspend operations. Brent crude futures rose $1.00 to settle over $98.00 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose over $2.00 to reach $93.65 a barrel. Among the stocks impacted, Centrus Energy jumped 8.3%, SM Energy rose 3.1%, BKV gained 3.2%, Select Water Solutions advanced 3.1%, and ProFrac climbed 4.5%.

The European Union (EU) has announced a significant increase in investment in Greenland, signaling clear geopolitical competition in the Arctic region. The EU is preparing investments of around €200 million for 2026-2027 and has proposed expanding its long-term budget to as much as €530 million for 2028-2034, a dramatic increase. The focus of investment is shifting from fisheries and education to strategic industries such as critical minerals, renewable energy, digital infrastructure, and satellites. This move comes after Donald Trump pushed for the US to take control of Greenland, citing security reasons, which was firmly rejected by both Greenland and Denmark. The visit of the European Commission President to Greenland is therefore a political message that Europe stands ready to support Greenland in maintaining the balance of power in the region. This investment helps reduce dependence on minerals from China and strengthens Europe's technology supply chain security. Meanwhile, global warming is causing ice to melt, opening new shipping routes and access to rare earths beneath the ice sheet, which are essential for producing EV batteries, wind turbines, and computer chips. Greenland's Prime Minister has welcomed cooperation with the EU to bring in funds for infrastructure development, improving quality of life, and strengthening the economy.

American Battery Technology's shares rose 1.8% in Tuesday's trading after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management completed its review and accepted the company's mine and refinery plan of operations for the Tonopah Flats lithium project in Nevada. The project, spanning 10.7K acres of public land in Esmeralda and Nye counties, is designed to bolster domestic production of critical minerals for grid-scale battery storage, data centers, AI, electric vehicles, and consumer electronics. Tonopah Flats has received significant federal support, including a FAST-41 designation, a $58M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the initial 5K tons-per-year processing train, and a $900M letter of interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to expand capacity to 30K tons per year. The company's next step is the publication of a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement, as it continues through federal, state, and local permitting.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $1.9 billion loan to NextEra Energy to refurbish the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, a nuclear plant that Google plans to use to power its data centers. This is the second such loan, following a $1 billion loan to Constellation Energy for the Three Mile Island restart. Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly said the restart in 2029 will drive down electricity costs, though he did not explain how. NextEra CEO John Ketchum noted that only 50 megawatts will be set aside for the local power cooperative, which would cover 18% of Iowa's demand growth since 2021. Google is reportedly planning up to six data centers near the plant, which has been idle since 2020. The refurbishment will add 14 megawatts, bringing total capacity to 615 megawatts.

MAX Power Mining Corp. has reported the highest Natural Hydrogen readings to date at its Lawson Complex in Saskatchewan, with the ongoing Lawson 4 well intersecting a major deep crustal fault or conduit at 2,310.5 meters, expanding the discovery. The company has also increased its permitted landholdings for Natural Hydrogen in Saskatchewan by 25% to approximately 2.5 million acres, adding eight parcels covering 470,000 acres. Drilling at Lawson 4 has progressed to 2,332.2 meters, recovering 41.35 meters of core from the lowermost basal Deadwood and Precambrian basement complex, with elevated readings and abundant metallic mineralization noted. MAX Power is preparing Lawson 5, its largest step-out to date, located 27 to 31 kilometers northeast to test the system's extent toward the Salt Wall. CEO Ran Narayanasamy highlighted that the program continues to de-risk Lawson, positioning Saskatchewan as a potential global leader in Natural Hydrogen commercialization.

TerraPower, the U.S. nuclear development company backed by Bill Gates, expects its Natrium reactor to begin generating electricity in the UK by 2034, according to CEO Chris Levesque in an interview with Reuters. The UK will be the company's first market outside the U.S. The UK is promoting the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) to bolster energy security and meet climate goals, and earlier this year launched a framework to support privately funded projects. Levesque said that given the progress of the company's first Natrium reactor, which is due for completion in 2031, "there is a good chance" of achieving nuclear power generation with Natrium in the UK by 2034. The technology has cleared regulatory requirements in the U.S., and the first unit is under construction in Wyoming. In the UK, it is currently undergoing a review under a process known as the Generic Design Assessment (GDA). The sodium-cooled reactor generates 345 megawatts of baseload power per unit and has a storage capability that can boost output to 500 megawatts for more than five hours. It uses high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) as fuel. Until now, this fuel could only be sourced commercially from Russia, but the U.S. and UK are now building manufacturing facilities. TerraPower has not yet chosen a site for its first UK project, but it says its UK subsidiary is likely to be based in Liverpool, northwest England, close to the country's nuclear regulator. In the U.S., the company has a contract with Meta Platforms to develop up to eight reactors. Levesque said the company may seek similar partnerships in the UK.

Jefferies turned bullish on the nuclear energy sector on September 3, initiating coverage of Cameco Corporation and BWX Technologies with 'Buy' ratings and price targets of $138 and $181, respectively, implying upside of over 31% for Cameco and 13% for BWXT. The investment bank's confidence stems from growing demand for low-carbon electricity, with more than 30 countries pledging to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 and President Trump signing an executive order to quadruple U.S. capacity by that year. Cameco, the world's second-largest uranium miner with 15% of global output in 2025, holds long-term contracts for about 230 million pounds of uranium through 2030 and a stake in Westinghouse Electric, positioning it to secure higher prices through 2040. BWXT, the sole provider of naval nuclear reactors for U.S. submarines and aircraft carriers, was selected for the U.S. Army's $2.2 billion Janus program to build microreactors on military bases, with Jefferies expecting annual sales growth of 6%-7% and earnings growth of 13%-17% through 2030. Risks include uranium price volatility for Cameco and execution challenges for BWXT, particularly the aggressive timeline for the Janus reactor by September 2028.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the United States may not be able to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran and may instead turn to destroying Iran's potential to develop nuclear weapons. As the conflict drags into its seventh month, Wright said on ABC News' "This Week" that a deal may have to wait for Iran's next government, and that the US will continue strikes to reduce Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons, noting that this effort has been ongoing for 47 years and will work with regional partners. Meanwhile, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Parliament and chief negotiator of Iran, warned that the next retaliation will be faster, more severe, and more painful, while acknowledging that Iran's economy faces pressure from inflation, unemployment, and exchange rate volatility. The statement came after US forces attacked three Iranian oil tankers, permanently disabling two and striking a third in the Gulf of Oman, in response to missile fire by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at US warships. Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said that if Iran fires at US ships, they will destroy their oil tankers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the same stance on platform X. The conflict has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil, and the US continues to impose sanctions and economic pressure on Iran. The World Bank expects Iran's economy to contract by 2.7% and inflation to surge to 62.2% in February.

Barclays analysts project that the global energy sector will require about $3.6 trillion in annual investment by 2027, driven by artificial intelligence, electrification, and energy-security concerns. This spending, spanning oil and gas, LNG, pipelines, power generation, grids, renewables, storage, and electrification, is expected to grow by more than 5% annually and exceed three times the capital needed for planned AI infrastructure. The bank describes an era of "energy addition," where demand for conventional and low-carbon energy rises simultaneously, with global energy demand growing at a 1.9% compound annual rate from 2025 to 2050. Data centers alone could add about 32 quadrillion BTUs of energy demand by 2040, equivalent to over 600 gigawatts and roughly matching Russia's 2025 consumption. Underinvestment has left upstream oil and gas capex about 45% below its peak, and over 2,500 GW of renewable and storage projects await grid connections, making grids and transmission networks major constraints. Barclays sees opportunities across upstream, oil services, LNG, pipelines, utilities, and clean tech, with 2028 earnings estimates for preferred stocks averaging 11% above consensus and price targets implying about 30% upside.

DeepSeek, a leading Chinese artificial intelligence company, plans to install at least 160,000 Huawei Ascend 950DT chips in a large data center under construction in Inner Mongolia. This could become one of the largest disclosed clusters of Huawei AI chips and marks a significant step for China in reducing its reliance on Nvidia chips. The chips will primarily be used for running AI models, or inference, while model training will still use Nvidia chips. However, Huawei's production capacity is insufficient due to a shortage of key components, especially high-bandwidth memory, which may delay delivery by more than a year. The project has a power capacity of 1 gigawatt, and the 160,000 chips will be only part of the total computing power. This cluster is 16 times larger than previously disclosed Ascend clusters, reflecting China's progress in building AI infrastructure with domestic technology amid competition with the United States.

Jefferies has initiated coverage on nuclear companies, forecasting roughly $55 trillion in nuclear-related capital spending through 2100, driven by data center power demand, electrification, and aging plants. The brokerage calls the figure conservative, citing energy needs from physical AI. Analyst Laurence Alexander says governments competing in AI will prioritize cheap electricity, lowering return hurdles. Jefferies placed buy ratings on Cameco, Kazatomprom, NexGen, Denison Mines, BWX Technologies, and Mirion, with holds on others. The note highlights a near-term supply shortfall and projects $9 trillion investment by 2050 and $46 trillion by 2100, with an aging reactor fleet averaging 33 years.

Vulcan Energy has unveiled plans for a €1.26-billion second-phase lithium and geothermal project in Germany, aiming to replicate the development model of its flagship Lionheart project. The preliminary feasibility study for Project Ludwig, located about 60 kilometers north of Lionheart in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field, targets production of 21,100 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a 30-year operating life, with total expected output of about 517,000 tonnes. Development capital is estimated at €1.26 billion including a 15% contingency, yielding a post-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate of €1.73 billion and a post-tax internal rate of return of 20.2%. The project would comprise 14 production and 14 injection wells across five sites, producing around 3,125 GWh of renewable heat annually, with C1 operating costs estimated at €4,101 per tonne. The PFS also increased the Indicated lithium Mineral Resource by 91% to 1.25 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, while Inferred resources stand at 2.23 million tonnes. A final investment decision is expected only after Lionheart reaches commercial production, with an assumed FID in 2029, and the company is seeking strategic partners and asset-level financing.

As the third quarter of 2026 draws to a close, the nuclear energy industry is seeing tangible progress with retired plants restarting, small modular reactors under construction, and billions flowing into the fuel supply chain. The U.S. Department of Energy aims to add 2.5 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2027 and 5 gigawatts by 2029 through uprates and restarts, with Holtec's Palisades plant in Michigan and Constellation Energy's Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania leading the restart efforts, backed by $1.52 billion and $1 billion federal loans respectively. Ontario Power Generation has begun construction on the first of four GE Vernova Hitachi small modular reactors at Darlington, Canada, with the first 300-megawatt unit expected to cost about $5.5 billion and all four projected at $15 billion. Advanced reactor developers like Oklo, TerraPower, NuScale, and X-energy are moving beyond design stages, with X-energy's potential pipeline including 144 reactors representing about 11.5 gigawatts. AI is accelerating development through initiatives like Project Prometheus, and the DOE has awarded $2.7 billion in orders to expand domestic uranium enrichment, including HALEU production. While the nuclear renaissance is real, commercialization remains key, with established players like Constellation and BWX Technologies offering cash flow, while newer companies like Oklo, NuScale, and X-energy carry higher risk but greater upside.

Americas Uranium Corp. has entered into a Mineral Property Purchase Agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Treeline uranium property in New Mexico from Verdera Energy Corp. and its subsidiary NM Energy Holding Corp. The deal includes a US$100,000 cash payment and C$2,000,000 in common shares, with 90% of the share consideration paid in staged issuances over 36 months. The property hosts a historical estimate of approximately 1.02 million pounds of U3O8, though this estimate predates current NI 43-101 standards and requires further work to verify. The acquisition aligns with the company's strategy to build a North American uranium portfolio amid rising U.S. nuclear energy ambitions, including a policy goal to expand nuclear capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050. Closing is subject to regulatory approvals, including from the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Lithium miners are reporting strong first-half profits driven by surging battery storage demand, with major producers planning output increases. Tianqi Lithium and Ganfeng Lithium posted their biggest profits in three years, while Albemarle noted global lithium demand rose 45% year-over-year through May. Supply growth has lagged, creating a gap that benefits miners, and Tianqi warned that overseas supply may face policy and logistics hurdles, suggesting further price upside. CATL expects energy storage to account for half of its sales by 2030, and Middle East tensions are boosting demand as countries seek energy independence.

X-Energy, newly public since April, is leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate nuclear reactor design through its involvement in Project Prometheus, a $60 million Department of Energy initiative led by Idaho National Laboratory, Nvidia, and Amazon. The company is contributing $10 million and proprietary reactor data to integrate AI across design, licensing, manufacturing, and operations. With a pipeline of 144 reactors totaling about 11.5 gigawatts, including projects with Dow, Amazon, and Centrica, X-Energy aims to overcome historical nuclear construction delays. Its TRISO-X subsidiary is building the TX-1 fuel facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, expected to be the first commercial U.S. plant for TRISO fuel, capable of supplying up to 11 Xe-100 reactors.

Reuters reports that the US government plans to take a non-managerial 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, a company owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. In addition to the equity stake, the US also plans to secure preferential rights to purchase 20% of the company's output at cost. The Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), under the US Department of Defense, is planning to structure the investment through penny warrants, which would give the government ownership rights without requiring a large capital outlay. This move comes one day after Donald Trump announced that the US would take control of one-fifth of Venezuela's oil reserves, which exceed 65 billion barrels. However, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated that the OSC does not take equity stakes in private companies, and its role is limited to providing financial assistance in the form of loans, loan guarantees, or technical assistance, raising questions about the actual structure of the deal.

The U.S. Department of Defense is negotiating a major partnership with energy investor Alejandro Betancourt to secure a direct stake in Venezuelan crude reserves, Bloomberg reported Friday. The discussions center on as many as 17 oil fields across Venezuela's primary basins, reflecting Washington's aggressive push to consolidate influence over the nation's energy infrastructure. Under one framework being evaluated, the U.S. could secure a 100-year lease over assets that include the Junin area in the Orinoco belt and legacy fields around Lake Maracaibo. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital, created in 2022 to direct private capital into critical sectors, is being considered to manage the prospective investment. The military initiative comes alongside parallel efforts by major corporate players to expand their footprint in the region. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that Chevron Corp. and Halliburton Co. are nearing multi-billion-dollar deals to boost Venezuelan production, with Chevron seeking to add two heavy-oil fields to its three existing joint ventures with state producer PdVSA. Washington has effectively assumed control over Venezuelan oil sales and relaxed sanctions following the January capture of former President Nicolás Maduro and the installation of Delcy Rodríguez. While President Donald Trump has championed the revitalization of Latin America's former oil titan, actual output recovery has remained sluggish as major energy operators navigate ongoing political uncertainty. Against that backdrop, rising global crude prices driven by conflict with Iran and Middle Eastern supply strains have heightened the urgency for Western capital deployment. While conservative majors like ExxonMobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips maintain a cautious stance, independent intermediaries and service firms appear positioned to lead the initial wave of reinvestment.

Standard Nuclear, Inc. reported its first quarter of meaningful commercial fuel sales, shipping a 50-kilogram batch of HALEU TRISO fuel to Radiant Industries and completing delivery of the full core load for Radiant's first microreactor. The company's total contract backlog surged from $91.3 million at March 31 to $241.5 million at June 30, and after an August fuel supply agreement with Antares Nuclear, total backlog reached $576.9 million, including a firm commitment of 1 metric ton of TRISO fuel with an option for up to 7 additional metric tons. Revenue for Q2 was $4.7 million, with $3.1 million from product deliveries and $1.6 million from services, yielding a gross profit of $3.2 million and a 67% gross margin. Management targeted authorization to operate the SN-TN and SN-ID sites for the fourth quarter of 2026 and the start of production at Richland through its Framatome joint venture in 2027, while declining to provide formal financial guidance. The company ended the quarter with $102.2 million in cash and no debt, and net loss narrowed to $3.4 million, or $0.12 per share, from $7.7 million in the first quarter.