Eagle Nuclear Energy shares flat on uranium explorer's debut post SPAC merger (updated)

Spring Valley Acquisition II

25/02/2026 15:32

Updates shares in paragraph 1

By Katha  Kalia

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Eagle Nuclear Energy's NUCL.O shares rose 14.6% in afternoon trade on Wednesday after the uranium exploration company began trading on Nasdaq following its merger with the blank-check firm, Spring Valley Acquisition Corp II.

The listing comes as nuclear energy in the U.S. gains traction after decades of stagnation, fueled by surging electricity demand from power-hungry data centers.

Eagle Nuclear's flagship project, named Aurora, is one of the largest undeveloped uranium deposits in the U.S., along the border between Oregon and Nevada.

The project does not yet have any offtake agreements, CEO Mark Mukhija said in an interview, but added it has begun to receive initial interest, given that supply is expected to come online in the early 2030s.

He also expects it to be of interest to the U.S. Department of Energy as the company completes its pre-feasibility study.

Eagle Nuclear expects to start production in 2032, but the timeline could be accelerated as the industry is seeing favorable conditions, such as support from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, Mukhija added.

Last year, Trump issued executive orders seeking to speed up permissions for nuclear reactors, allowing the DoE to authorize the test reactors without approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Mukhija also expects hyperscalers to start looking at uranium producers, and not just utilities, as a source of power supply within the next couple of years.

Eagle Nuclear's merger with SVAC II includes a $30 million public-private investment that is expected to fund the company's operations for about two years.

 (Reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)

 ((Katha.Kalia@thomsonreuters.com;))