We have had the technology for nuclear power generation since the 1950s, but, apart from France, all countries have continued to favor oil, natural gas and coal since then. Although that is changing.
Around the world, nuclear energy is enjoying a renaissance of renewed interest and investment. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy has set a goal of tripling the country’s nuclear production by mid-century. Big tech companies are working with power companies to resurrect nuclear plants to power data centers.
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As a result of that interest, nuclear stockpiles have increased. And these three seem to be some of the best.
Image source: Getty Images.
First is cameco (NYSE: CCJ)one of the world’s leading uranium miners. In 2025, it was responsible for 15% of all the uranium produced in the world that year. The only company that produced more was the Kazakh state-owned company Kazatomprom.
The company is present in practically the entire nuclear fuel cycle. It has two high-grade mines in Canada and a third low-grade mine in Kazakhstan. It also has a fuel services division that refines and produces finished uranium fuel rods.
Finally, through a joint venture with Brookfield Asset Management(NYSE: BAM) has 49% ownership of Westinghouse, an engineering company that produces the AP1000, which is the most advanced nuclear reactor on the market today.
By 2025, Cameco’s revenue grew by 11% and it maintains a high net profit margin of 16.9% and a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, which is good to see in an industry as capital-intensive as mining.
All of Cameco’s uranium mines are for reactors around the world, including the 94 in the United States. And the largest operator of those nuclear reactors is Constellation Power Corp (NASDAQ:CEG).
Constellation is a fairly simple energy company with one key factor that sets it apart. It is both the largest producer of green energy in the United States and the largest producer of nuclear energy. It owns 21 of the United States’ nuclear reactors and will soon add a new one.
The company has partnered with microsoft(NASDAQ:MSFT) bring part of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant back online as the Crane Clean Energy Center. Once completed (expected in 2028), Microsoft has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation to purchase power from the plant for its data centers in the area.
As an energy company, Constellation is fairly stable and slow growing. By 2025, its revenue increased by 8.3% compared to 2024 and it recorded a net profit margin of 9.1%. It also has a healthy debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.
It pays a dividend, which has increased every year since 2022. But it currently only yields 0.55%. However, with a payout ratio of 20.96%, Constellation has plenty of room to continue increasing that dividend in the future.
Speaking of the future, Constellation’s nuclear fleet represents the current generation of nuclear technology well, but there are many companies that are pioneering the frontier of fission technology.
BWX Technologies(NYSE: BWXT) has been a leader in the naval nuclear reactor industry since the 1950s, when it designed and produced components for the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine. Since then, it has produced more than 400 nuclear reactors for the US Navy.
Its background in naval nuclear technology has given BWX much experience in manufacturing small-scale nuclear reactors. And it is taking advantage of that capability with its BWXT advanced nuclear reactor, or BANR, which is a small modular reactor (SMR).
SMRs work on the same principles as a conventional nuclear reactor, only they are smaller. BWX’s BANR is no different. It is designed to be built in pieces in a factory and then shipped and assembled at its final location. Once built, it can generate 75 megawatts of power, making it a potential solution for the power needs of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
And while other SMR companies are startups focused solely on SMR development, BWX makes a lot of revenue from its existing business. By 2025, it generated revenue of $3.19 billion, up 18% from 2024. Its earnings per share (EPS) grew 20% over the same period. The company also maintains a net profit margin of 10.3%.
If Cameco and Constellation represent the present of nuclear technology, BWX represents the future, the cutting edge of where nuclear engineering is headed. All three are worth a look and I expect the nuclear bull trend to continue for the rest of this year and into the future.
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James Hires has positions at BWX Technologies and Cameco. The Motley Fool holds and recommends BWX Technologies, Brookfield Asset Management, Cameco, Constellation Energy, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Three Nuclear Power Stocks That Are Quietly Becoming Trades of the Year was originally published by The Motley Fool
