The Only Nuclear Stocks to Buy Today

Most of you have never heard of the Zoé reactor. 

If I were to ask you to talk a little bit about the beginning of the atomic age, it’s a good bet more than a few people would try to regurgitate the plot of Oppenheimer; some of the more savvy in our investment community may even start with the secret of Chicago Pile-1. 

The CP-1 was the world’s first artificial nuclear reactor that was developed in secret at the University of Chicago back in 1942. 

But the Zoé reactor? Not a peep. 

Not that I blame you, of course. Few know that five years after the world’s first nuclear chain reaction occurred in CP-1, construction began on the Zoé reactor in a little suburb in Paris. 

Go ahead and take a look:

Zoé was France’s first heavy-water reactor that was built more than 78 years ago. Within a few years of completion, it was pumping out roughly 150 kW of clean power years later. 

Now, when it comes to nuclear power today, the French get all the love.

In fact, the country is regarded as a model for nuclear power from the rest of the world. There’s a good reason why, too. In 2024, the 361.7 Twh of power that French reactors generated supplied slightly more than two-thirds of the country’s total electricity generation. 

The thing is, they shouldn’t be.

And here’s why…

Although France’s electrical generation is dominated by nuclear power, and the country boasts some of the cheapest exports of electricity (not  to mention being the world’s largest net electricity exporter) thanks to its 57 operating reactors, things weren’t supposed to stay this good for much longer. 

You see, back in 2014, the French government decided that one of the cleanest sources of energy on the planet wasn’t a good idea, so it made a plan to cut its reliance on nuclear power to 50% by 2025. 

In 2019, the country pushed back that date to 2035. By 2022, the President announced plans to build six new reactors, possibly even eight, by 2050. 

Slowly but surely, the French were changing their tune on nuclear power. Then in 2023, President Macron pledged to triple nuclear capacity by 2050. 

The country’s energy transition minister believes they’ll need more than a dozen to meet their goals. 

However, for all the praise France receives for their strong power generation, they still don’t hold a candle to the 782 billion kWh generated in the United States last year. For the record, that was more than double the amount of power coming out of France, yet it only accounted for 19% of our electricity demand. 

What you may not realize is that despite the 54 nuclear plants that stretch across the lower-48 states, our nuclear-powered future doesn’t lie in traditional nuclear plants. 

And this is where things get interesting. 

Last week, China moved a step closer to completing the Linglong One, the world’s first small modular reactor; consider this a sign of things to come. 

Development of next-gen SMRs isn’t just relegated to China. Canada recently gave its first approval to Ontario Power Generation to build the country’s first SMR. 

Here in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Energy is investing nearly a billion dollars to develop SMR technology domestically, and a new Senate Bill in Louisiana just opened the door for SMR technology for the state. 

This push to develop next-gen nuclear technology isn’t going to slow, especially as it becomes clear to the market that our growing power demand isn’t slowing down. 

Let me show you exactly why right here.