Shares of NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) jumped as much as 54.9% in trading this week, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, as the market continues to speculate on future nuclear growth. Shares gave back some of those gains late in the week and are up 37.7% from last Friday's close, as of noon ET.

Nuclear energy back in the mainstream

Artificial intelligence (AI) has caused a big surge in nuclear energy interest because of the immense energy needs of AI data centers. Microsoft was the first to sign a big deal that involved reopening Three Mile Island's reactors, but this week, Amazon and Alphabet joined the party.

Amazon said it would work with utilities to develop four small modular reactors in Washington state, and signed a deal with Dominion Energy to "explore the development of an SMR project near Dominion's existing North Anna nuclear power station." In addition, the company made an investment in privately held X-energy.

Alphabet signed a deal with Kairos Power to develop as much as 500 megawatts of small nuclear reactors for its data centers.

Almost all of big tech is now investing in nuclear energy in some form or another, and that could be a tailwind for the industry.

The reality of nuclear energy today

While NuScale's stock is up, the reality of what's been announced recently may not be as bullish. None of the major deals announced appear to be using NuScale's technology, and they're all projecting operations to begin in 2030 or later. Some agreements even contemplate plants being built through 2035.

While it's great the nuclear energy industry is getting more deals, we are still years away from revenue generation or profitability. And for NuScale, it's not clear how many projects the company is winning. Given the speculative nature of the move this week, I'll happily watch from the sidelines.

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