NuScale CEO still upbeat about small modular reactors despite project cancellation - Seeking Alpha
NuScale CEO still upbeat about small modular reactors despite project cancellation | Seeking Alpha
NuScale CEO still upbeat about small modular reactors despite project cancellation
NuScale Power Corporation (SMR) By:
Carl Surran, SA News Editor
1 Comment vchal/iStock via Getty Images
NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) CEO John Hopkins defended the company Tuesday, saying work continues in the U.S. and two other countries despite last week's cancellation of its first plant at the Idaho National Laboratory because of concerns about low subscription for the plant's power.
"We have $200M in the bank. That's cash, no debt. So we have a healthy balance sheet," Hopkins told an American Nuclear Society conference in Washington, D.C.
The CEO said NuScale ( SMR) projects in Romania and South Korea continue to develop, and a plan with service provider Standard Power to develop 2 GW of nuclear power intended for data centers in Pennsylvania and Ohio is on track, with a contract for the project to be completed "if not this week, then next."
NuScale ( SMR) was the first U.S. company to secure regulatory approval for its design of a small, modular reactor, but critics say such advanced reactor designs are too expensive to succeed.
"The termination of NuScale's contract signals the broader challenges of developing nuclear energy" in the U.S., Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters.
NuScale ( SMR) shares rose 6% in Tuesday's trading but have tumbled 25% in the week since its project was canceled, and TD Cowen analysts said the company may need a capital raise as it needs to reimburse its customer in Utah $50M for costs.
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Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.