Nuclear Stock Face-Off: Is Oklo or NuScale Power the Better Buy Right Now?

Earlier this year, Elon Musk's SpaceX filed an application with the U.S. government to launch up to a million data centers into Earth's orbit -- something no country or corporation has even been able to accomplish even once.

This move may have partially been meant to build hype around a potential SpaceX IPO. But it's not all smoke and mirrors. The AI revolution is being made possible by a rapid global buildout of data center infrastructure. These data centers require increasing amounts of energy to operate. And operating a data center in space would, at least theoretically, dramatically lower cooling costs while allowing the facility to take advantage of near limitless amounts of free solar energy.

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No one knows whether SpaceX will succeed in this lofty vision. But one thing is for sure: Here on Earth, massive amounts of new energy will be needed to fuel the global AI data center buildout. Experts, therefore, are increasingly bullish on nuclear energy. Bank of America analysts believe the coming nuclear renaissance represents a $10 trillion opportunity.

Nuclear energy innovators, including Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) and NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), should directly benefit from this coming nuclear renaissance. Both are worthwhile investments for aggressive growth investors looking for maximum upside potential. But if you want to bet only on the best nuclear stock, one of these businesses sticks out as the obvious choice.

Oklo is a cleaner bet on AI than NuScale Power

I'm a fan of both Oklo and Nuscale Power. But when it comes to betting on the AI revolution, the choice is clear: Oklo is much better positioned to capitalize on the global buildout of AI data centers.

While their specific technological approaches differ, both Oklo and NuScale Power specialize in small modular reactor technology, or SMRs. Compared with conventional nuclear power plants, SMRs have -- at least on paper -- lower initial construction costs, shorter initial construction times, improved safety metrics, and greater ease of scaling over time.

Here's where Oklo's approach and Nuscale Power's approach differ.

NuScale Power is mostly focused on large, utility-scale projects. It has a deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority, for example, to deploy a 6GW system that it hopes to get online in the early 2030s -- though we are still waiting on timeline specifics. Oklo, meanwhile, is more focused on delivering smaller systems better suited to data center needs. For example, it signed a deal with Meta Platforms for a 1.2GW system that should come online by 2030.

NuScale Power and Oklo both have a chance to contribute toward meeting the rising energy needs of the AI data center industry. Oklo's business model, however, is simply more targeted to meet this specific opportunity. It's no wonder that Sam Altman -- the founder and CEO of OpenAI, one of the world's heaviest users of data center capacity -- was the Chairman of Oklo for many years.

If I'm picking one nuclear stock to benefit directly from the AI revolution, I'm sticking with Oklo.

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Ryan Vanzo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.