#nuclear-energy

#nuclear-energy

The United States government has chosen five companies, including nuclear energy company Oklo, to enter advanced talks over potentially using its Cold War-era plutonium as a nuclear reactor fuel. The US Department of Energy made the announcement on Tuesday. The Energy Department holds surplus US plutonium, which has a half-life of 24,000 years and must be handled with protective gear, at heavily guarded weapons facilities in states including South Carolina, Texas and New Mexico.

Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Oklo is $98.78, implying 76.77% upside from a current price of $55.88. The recommendation is buy at a moderate 50% confidence level, reflecting genuine execution uncertainty.

The United States is perhaps the most privatized nuclear energy system in the world, with reactors largely in the hands of the private sector, unlike state-run systems in other countries.

The prototype fast breeder reactor (PBFR) at Kalpakkam in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu reached criticality on Monday, marking a major leap for the country's atomic energy programme.

Valar Atomics is focused on creating 'gigasites', which are expansive industrial campuses designed to accommodate hundreds or thousands of small, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. These reactors utilize helium as a coolant and TRISO fuel encased in graphite, enabling them to operate at significantly higher temperatures than traditional light-water reactors.

The launch of xU3O8-based lending on the DeFi aggregator Oku allows investors to access liquidity in USDC without selling their underlying physical uranium positions, enhancing capital efficiency.

Cohen led the group through a technical conversation about licensing nuclear reactor designs, he repeatedly downplayed health and safety concerns. When staff brought up the topic of radiation exposure from nuclear test sites, Cohen broke in.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration projected in March 2026 that American power demand will climb to a new record in 2026 and keep rising through 2027, driven largely by AI data centers. Nuclear is one of the few energy sources positioned to absorb that load reliably, and its share of the generation mix is forecast to tick up.

In recent years, particularly under the current administration as of early 2026, the U.S. government has shifted toward some direct equity investments and partnerships in strategic private companies, often framed as efforts to bolster national security, reduce reliance on foreign supply chains (especially from China), and support key industries like semiconductors and critical minerals. This approach has been likened across Wall Street to an informal "American sovereign wealth fund" and has led the government to acquire significant stakes in certain publicly traded firms.

In terms of making things happen, energy is an indispensable consideration. Systems spontaneously tend towards the lowest-energy state. When a system reaches equilibrium, no further energy can be extracted. That maximum entropy, lowest energy state is the inevitable end-state of the Universe. But until that moment arrives, reactions of all kinds will occur, continuing to liberate energy. In our bodies, chemical bonds break and reform: releasing energy.

Manuel Lozano Leyva, a Spanish physicist, emeritus professor and advisor to Spain's Council of Nuclear Security, turns 77 this year and says he's too old to be afraid of speaking his mind. Which is why he'll bluntly tell you that [Donald] Trump is deranged, advocate for the return of mandatory military service and defend nuclear energy. The grandson of a carriage driver from whom Lozano Leyva inherited

This morning, the S&P 500 is up 17 points. The SPDR S&P 500 ( SPY) is up $2.55. The Dow is up about 100 points, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq tacks on 68 points. Most of these gains are attributed to speculation that job gains could prompt the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. That was after the December jobs report showed slight weakening, but a stable jobs market that could push the Fed to cut again.