Advanced reactor developer NuScale Power Corp. is still losing money but is otherwise in excellent financial shape, with a $ 268.6 million war chest, short-term investments of $50 million and no debt, NuScale CEO John Hopkins and CFO Chris Colbert said in a teleconference with analysts.
In the third quarter of 2022 that ended Sept. 30, NuScale posted revenue of $3.2 million and a net loss of $49.6 million, compared with revenue of $300,000 and a net loss of $27.1 million for the same period in 2021.
For the first nine months of 2022, NuScale tallied $8.4 million and a net loss of $94.4 million. In the same nine months of 2021, the company recorded revenue of $1.3 million and a net loss $74.4 million.
NuScale makes money on consulting and loses money on research and development costs.
NuScale is developing a small modular reactor design and hopes to expand into manufacturing and selling the reactors. Small modular reactors are prefabricated facilities with parts manufactured in one location which are then transported to the reactor site for final assembly.
A modular segment would consist of a mini-reactor of 77 megawatts. The design allows for extra modules to be added as needed.
In 2020, NuScale became the first and so far only small modular reactor developer to receive approval for its design by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The company still has the only NRC-approved design for a small modular reactor. Hopkins said that puts NuScale at least three years ahead of any competitor.
NuScale has predicted it would need $200 million through 2024 to continue developing its small modular reactor. In April, NuScale acquired $341 million when Spring Valley Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company based in the Cayman Islands, merged with NuScale. A special purpose acquisition company is a publicly-traded shell company.
Fluor continues to be a major stakeholder in NuScale, currently owning 57% of the small reactor developer, according to Fluor’s latest quarterly report. Fluor said last week it plans to gradually decrease that stake to around 20% to 25%.
NuScale is working with a major regional utility, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, to deploy the first NuScale power plant with one reactor module in 2029 at the Idaho National Laboratory. NuScale hopes to add another five modular reactors at INL in 2030.
NuScale also hopes to deliver six small modular reactors to Romania’s S.N. Nuclearelectrica S.A by 2028.
NuScale is also pursuing deals in Poland and Ghana.
