---
title: "NuScale jumped 7% on its first reactor hardware, while a shareholder suit called its plan a farce"
description: "The Doosan contract turns NuScale's approved reactor design into its first piece of production steel, and the stock jumped 7%. A securities suit filed the same week calls the commercialization plan behind it a farce, and the November 5 earnings call decides whether this is a manufacturing story or a payment-flow story."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Power"
published: 2026-10-30T15:41:29.240Z
modified: 2026-10-30T15:41:29.240Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/nuscale-jumped-7-on-its-first-reactor-hardware-while-a-shareholder-suit-called-its-plan-a-farce
language: en
keywords: "NuScale, Small Modular Reactors, Nuclear Power, Securities Litigation, Doosan Enerbility"
---

# NuScale jumped 7% on its first reactor hardware, while a shareholder suit called its plan a farce

> The Doosan contract turns NuScale's approved reactor design into its first piece of production steel, and the stock jumped 7%. A securities suit filed the same week calls the commercialization plan behind it a farce, and the November 5 earnings call decides whether this is a manufacturing story or a payment-flow story.

## The rally and the lawsuit broke a day apart

On October 29, 2026, NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), the only small modular reactor developer whose design is certified by the U.S [1]. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, [signed a contract](https://www.nuscalepower.com/press-releases/2026/nuscale-power-and-doosan-enerbility-sign-agreement-for-manufacturing-of-nuscale-power-module) with South Korea's Doosan Enerbility to fabricate the first article, the first production unit, of the upper reactor coolant system for its 77-megawatt module at Doosan's Changwon plant [1]. The stock closed up about 7%, ahead of [Oklo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/oklo) at roughly 2% and [BWX Technologies](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/bwx-technologies) at 3% [3].

Neither company disclosed the contract's value, duration or a receiving customer, and a first article is a manufacturing milestone, not a sale: no revenue reaches [NuScale](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nuscale-power) until a module is ordered [1][4]. The same morning, Courthouse News reported a [federal securities suit filed Wednesday](https://www.courthousenews.com/shareholder-hits-nuscale-power-with-securities-suit/) by shareholder Thomas Harwood III, accusing NuScale's board and officers of misrepresenting the exclusive partnership at the heart of the business [2].

## $1.9 billion of cash, bought largely with new shares

NuScale held about $1.9 billion of cash and investments at June 30, 2026, but roughly $962 million of that came from [selling new stock in the second quarter alone](https://theinference.org/article/nuscale-sold-985-million-of-stock-in-six-months-against-75-000-of-revenue) [5]. The cost shows in the share count: Class A shares plus Class B units rose to 429.7 million from 231.4 million at the end of 2023 [3]. Second-quarter revenue was $75,000, down from $8.1 million a year earlier [3].

*Chart: **Cash rebuilds on new shares, then drains as the company spends** Line chart of NuScale's cash and equivalents across twelve quarters, from $197 million at September 2023 down to $117 million, then repeatedly rebuilt by equity sales to $772 million at June 2026.*

*Cash and equivalents in millions of US dollars at each quarter end, from NuScale's SEC filings as compiled October 30, 2026. Cash alone, excluding investments: against $772 million of cash at June 30, 2026, the company reported $1.9 billion of cash and investments. Source [6]. [6]*

## One partner controls every future sale, and NuScale pays it

ENTRA1 Energy would develop, finance, own and manage any plants serving the Tennessee Valley Authority, while NuScale supplies modules at a negotiated maximum sale price and ENTRA1 keeps sole discretion over whether to buy from NuScale at all [5]. Under the August 2025 Partnership Milestones Agreement, NuScale [has already paid ENTRA1 $507.4 million](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/top-stocks/nuscale-wouldn-t-own-a-reactor-in-the-deal-driving-its-stock/ar-AA2b71r6), described in filings as 15% of the total, with the last installment in the first quarter of 2026 [5].

A binding power purchase agreement, which can happen before any module order, triggers a second tranche worth about $1.2 billion on the 72-module TVA scope, and a final tranche, described as half the total, waits on an actual module order [5]. That arithmetic is explicit in the filings' own ratios: $507.4 million is 15% of the total, so the full schedule is about $3.4 billion, and the final tranche is half of that [5].

*Chart: **The next milestone payment to NuScale's partner could swallow most of its cash** Bar chart comparing NuScale's $1.9 billion of cash and investments at June 30, 2026, with the $507.4 million already recorded and paid to ENTRA1 and the estimated next milestone payment of about $1.2 billion that a binding TVA power purchase agreement would trigger.*

*US dollars, millions. Cash and investments and the first milestone payment are stated figures; the next tranche is the about-$1.2 billion figure reported for the 72-module TVA scope and is marked as a triggered-if estimate. A third tranche, half of the about-$3.4 billion total, is contingent on a module order and is not plotted. Sources [3][5]. [3][5]*

## The revenue line has gone to nearly zero

[Quarterly revenue ran $8.24 million in the third quarter of 2025](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001822966), $1.81 million in the fourth, $0.56 million in the first quarter of 2026 and $0.08 million, about $75,000, in the second [6]. Harwood's suit adds that after a November 2025 earnings call in which management conceded ENTRA1 lacked relevant experience, the stock lost roughly 70% of its value from its high [2].

*Chart: **Quarterly revenue has fallen from $13 million to $75,000 in six quarters** Line chart of NuScale's quarterly revenue falling from $13.38 million in the first quarter of 2025 to $8.05 million, $8.24 million, $1.81 million, $0.56 million and $0.08 million, about $75,000, in the second quarter of 2026.*

*Revenue in millions of US dollars per calendar quarter, from NuScale's SEC filings as compiled October 30, 2026; the series starts after a 2024 reporting break upstream and does not cross it. Sources [3][6]. [3][6]*

## The suit gives the bear case a docket, the Doosan contract gives the bull case steel

A class action has been filed, [multiple shareholder-rights firms are investigating](https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2026/10/28/nuscale-power-nyse-smr-faces-securities-fraud-probe-and-zero-binding-deals-despite-unique-regulatory-edge/), and NuScale has denied any wrongdoing [7]. Harwood argues NuScale "bet its commercialization strategy, and hundreds of millions of dollars, on one untested, understaffed partner with zero experience in nuclear power" [2].

A NuScale spokesperson said the company does not comment on pending litigation and is focused on executing its strategy as the holder of the only NRC-approved SMR design [2]. The bull case is real but narrow: [Doosan has worked the manufacturing since 2019](https://theinference.org/article/doosan-gets-paid-to-build-the-reactor-nuscale-still-has-to-sell), long-lead material for 12 modules sits in production carried at $68.6 million at June 30, and the first article is the first physical proof the approved design can actually be built [1][3].

## Verdict watch: the November 5 call

NuScale reports third-quarter results on November 5 at 5 p.m [4]. EST, with the stock starting from a $5.67 close on October 28 [4]. The test is plain, and it could land on the call itself: whether TVA signs a binding power purchase agreement with ENTRA1, and if it does, whether NuScale discloses the roughly $1.2 billion payment that signing immediately triggers, the milestone that would consume most of the $1.9 billion cash pile before a single module is sold [3][5].

Wall Street's estimate of $236 million of revenue in 2028 waits on the same signature [3].

## Takeaway

NuScale's Doosan contract gives the only NRC-certified SMR design its first production hardware, but every sale still runs through ENTRA1, which NuScale pays, and a TVA power purchase agreement would trigger a $1.2 billion payment from the $1.9 billion cash pile. The November 5 earnings call decides whether this is a manufacturing story or a payment-flow story.

## Sources

1. [NuScale Power press release, NuScale Power and Doosan Enerbility Sign Agreement for Manufacturing of NuScale Power Module, 29 October 2026](https://www.nuscalepower.com/press-releases/2026/nuscale-power-and-doosan-enerbility-sign-agreement-for-manufacturing-of-nuscale-power-module)
2. [Courthouse News Service, Shareholder hits NuScale Power with securities suit, 29 October 2026](https://www.courthousenews.com/shareholder-hits-nuscale-power-with-securities-suit/)
3. [TIKR, NuScale Jumps 7% on Doosan Contract: Converting Our Approved Design Into Deliverable Modules, 29 October 2026](https://www.tikr.com/blog/nuscale-jumps-7-on-doosan-contract-converting-our-approved-design-into-deliverable-modules)
4. [Mugglehead, NuScale Power signs Doosan contract for first reactor coolant system article, October 2026](https://mugglehead.com/nuscale-power-doosan-first-article-manufacturing-contract/)
5. [The Motley Fool via MSN, NuScale wouldn't own a reactor in the deal driving its stock, Daniel Sparks, 28 August 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/top-stocks/nuscale-wouldn-t-own-a-reactor-in-the-deal-driving-its-stock/ar-AA2b71r6)
6. [NuScale Power, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 30 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001822966)
7. [Foreign Policy Journal, NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) Faces Securities Fraud Probe And Zero Binding Deals Despite Unique Regulatory Edge, David Prior, 28 October 2026](https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2026/10/28/nuscale-power-nyse-smr-faces-securities-fraud-probe-and-zero-binding-deals-despite-unique-regulatory-edge/)


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NuScale jumped 7% on its first reactor hardware, while a shareholder suit called its plan a farce — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/nuscale-jumped-7-on-its-first-reactor-hardware-while-a-shareholder-suit-called-its-plan-a-farce