Nuclear startup X Energy raised $1 billion in an initial public offering yesterday, selling 44.3 million shares for $23 per share, a hefty premium over the $16 to $19 per share the company was seeking. The company originally hoped to raise about $800 million.
The stock is scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange on Friday under the ticker XE.
X-energy builds small modular reactors that can generate electricity or provide heat for industrial processes. The company has a deal with Dow to supply heat and power to a chemical plant in Texas and a deal with Amazon to sell up to 5 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2039. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund led X Energy’s Series C-1 round.
Nuclear startups like X-energy are being boosted by surging demand for electricity from data centers and other parts of the economy that are becoming more electrified.
The company announced that the reactor will generate 80 megawatts of electricity. Each Xe-100 reactor is cooled by helium gas flowing over billiard ball-sized “pebbles” packed with BB-sized TRIISO fuel pellets. TRISO fuel contains a uranium core wrapped in carbon and silicon and was developed several years ago to be safer than existing fuel designs, but it has not been widely used. X-energy says its fuel can withstand high temperatures, which helps contain the fuel and reduce the chance of meltdown.
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