Corvallis Based NuScale Is Sitting on Nearly $2 Billion
A double-edged sword...
NuScale Power grew out of nuclear engineering research at Oregon State University and was founded in 2007. It’s headquartered here on NE Circle Blvd.
NuScale recently reported that it finished the second quarter of 2026 with $1.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
An increase of about $1.41 billion in just a year.
NuScale is a bit of a double-edged sword. They developed a small nuclear reactor designed to be manufactured in components and deployed in groups, depending on how much electricity a customer needs.
Nuclear energy is carbon-free power, producing zero greenhouse gas emissions or air pollution. It is considered clean energy at the end stage. We say “end stage” because the mining of uranium, the fuel used in these reactors, and the disposal of radioactive waste, is not a clean part of the process.
The other side of it is that there is a massive, rising demand for reliable, carbon-free power to support the accelerated growth of data centers. This demand has fueled their newly minted massive pile of cash, mainly through investor optimism. Most of the money came from investors buying newly issued shares of the company.
The cash amount becomes more interesting, and ties into the perceived “AI bubble,” when compared with how much revenue NuScale currently generates. In the second quarter of 2026, they reported revenue of just $75,000.
The potential of what NuScale could become is massive, and one possible project shows just how big that potential could be.
NuScale’s has an exclusive commercialization partner, ENTRA1 Energy, and is in discussions with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power utility, over a potential deployment of NuScale reactors.
During NuScale’s latest earnings call, CEO John Hopkins said “the project could eventually involve 6 to 8 gigawatts of nuclear generating capacity.” Hopkins has described it as “the largest nuclear power deployment program in U.S. history.”
(Photo: NuScale CEO John Hopkins demonstrating a control room simulator to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry)
If it moves forward at the 6 to 8 gigawatt scale, the project would rank among the most ambitious nuclear construction efforts undertaken in the United States in decades.
Where does a nuclear reactor design company begin to manufacture the modules? Not in Corvallis.
NuScale has been working with South Korea-based Doosan Enerbility to manufacture major components for its first modules. And a company in Washington to manufacture the fuel. While headquartered here, the industrial network required to build and fuel its reactors stretches around the world.
The company reported 428 full-time employees at the end of 2025, with its workforce concentrated primarily in Corvallis, Houston, and remote. It’s not clear exactly how many of those employees currently work at the Corvallis HQ.
While NuScale’s technology is being marketed for clean, carbon-free electricity generation, the growth of its cash pile is most likely centered around the enormous power requirements associated with data centers.
This article was written by Derek S., a contributor to The Corvallis Inquirer. Feel free to send us your stories or articles to publish at: editor@corvallisnow.com
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