US-based NuScale Power Corporation has reported its third quarter results for 2024. NuScale ended the third quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $161.7m ($5.1m of which is restricted), and no debt. This compares with the second quarter in which NuScale reported cash and equivalents of $136m ($5.1m of which was restricted), and no debt.
NuScale reported $0.5m in revenue and a net loss of $45.5m. In the previous year, the company reported revenue of $7m and a net loss of $58.3m. Net loss in the quarter included a non-cash expense of $7.2m related to the fair value of warrants outstanding. This compares with non-cash income of $11.1m the previous year.
Operating expense was $41.2m compared with $93.9m compared with the same period of 2023. NuScale said the reduction in operating expense of $52.7m reflects actions to reduce costs and operate more efficiently. NuScale reported an operating loss of $41m, compared with an operating loss of $92.9m the previous year.
“As energy demand grows, the world’s largest technology companies are urgently seeking sources of secure, clean, reliable nuclear power, and NuScale is uniquely positioned to serve their needs for uninterrupted energy,” said John Hopkins, NuScale President & CEO. He added that NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology is ready for near-term deployment to support the growth of AI and other power-intensive technologies. “We are the sole SMR technology approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, have modules currently in production with supply chain partner Doosan Enerbility, and are seeing interest like never before,” he noted. “We signed a contract with Fluor to proceed with RoPower’s FEED Phase 2 study for the Doicești SMR power plant in Romania, which will be the first of its kind in Europe,” he said.
Until November 2023, NuScale appeared to be leading the field to deploy the first small modular reactor (SMR) in the USA. Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and NuScale Power had agreed to construction of six small modular reactors (SMRs) at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) as part of the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP). However, the project was cancelled. “Despite significant efforts by both parties to advance the CFPP, it appears unlikely that the project will have enough subscription to continue toward deployment,” a joint statement said. In January 2024, NuScale had to lay off 28% of its workforce and NuScale’s stock price subsequently fell by more than 8% as investors sold off shares.
In October, the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and Great British Nuclear reduced their shortlist of companies qualifying to take part in their SMR competition from six to four. The two companies dropped from the competition were EDF, which withdrew its Nuward SMR in July, and NuScale. However, European Commission (EC) later in October included NuScale in nine SMR projects selected for its initial round of applications to form Project Working Groups under the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs.
Meanwhile, in August, it was reported that US law firm Pomerantz LLP was investigating claims on behalf of investors of NuScale Power Corporation as to whether NuScale and certain of its officers had engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. On 29 July, Hunterbrook Media had reported that “the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of Enforcement is conducting an ‘active and ongoing’ investigation into NuScale”. The company is also being investigated by US law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.
