NuScale Power, a Portland, Ore.-based nuclear company, is laying off 154 full-time employees, or 28% of its workforce.
In November NuScale hit a major setback when it scuttled plans with an association of Utah-based power companies that were years in the works to build a nuclear power facility in Idaho — a project that would have been the NuScale’s first deployment.
The company had previously marked notable achievements. Last year NuScale became the first company developing advanced nuclear technology to secure design certification from the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In 2022, it went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and the year before the company raised $236 million from investors.
HuffPost, which first reported news of the layoffs on Friday, said that the canceled Idaho project and rising costs forced NuScale to burn through its cash reserves.
NuScale announced the layoffs in a press release Monday, saying it “is taking steps to transition from R&D to commercialization and aims to focus resources in key strategic areas as part of its growth and to strengthen its position going forward.”
NuScale’s stock was trading at nearly $15 in August 2022, but has been on an overall decline since then, hitting $2.54 per share this morning, down more than 2% on Monday.
The company said its cost-cutting actions are projected to produce $50-to-60 million in annual savings. In the short term, the layoffs will cost $3 million in severance in the first quarter of this year.
“Today, commercialization of our [small modular reactor] technology is our key objective, which includes near-term deployment and manufacturing,” CEO John Hopkins said in a statement.
The company launched in 2007 and has invested more than $1.8 billion into its technology, according to a November investor presentation.
The nuclear sector has been whipsawed by challenges and advancements. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 cut off the sole source of reactor fuel for NuScale and other advanced nuclear companies reliant on HALEU (high-assay, low-enriched uranium). To replace the Russian supply, Ohio-based Centrus Energy Corporation started manufacturing the fuel in November 2023, with plans to scale production this year.
Leaders and scientists globally have acknowledged the need for nuclear power to address the climate change crisis. At the recent U.N. climate conference, known as COP28, more than 20 countries including the U.S. agreed to a plan to triple the nuclear energy capacity worldwide by 2050.
Other Pacific Northwest nuclear efforts are moving ahead. X-energy has an agreement with Energy Northwest to build up to 12 of its modular reactors in Central Washington. Washington state’s TerraPower, a next-gen nuclear power company backed by Bill Gates, is slated to build its first demonstration plant in Wyoming on the site of one of the state’s retiring coal plants.
