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Most of the attention on nuclear energy goes to electricity production for national grids and powering AI data centers. But nuclear is capable of more than just producing electricity. Nuclear technology also helps diagnose disease and treat cancer, power submarines, and can supply heat to industrial plants. These markets have their own customers and budgets, and the VettaFi Nuclear Renaissance Index (NUKZX) contains multiple companies that serve them.
More than 50 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed worldwide each year, according to the World Nuclear Association. About 80% of the world’s nuclear medicine procedures use technetium-99, a short-lived isotope used for imaging.
Nuclear reactors are used to produce some of these isotopes. In 2024, BWX Technologies (BWXT) began working with Ontario Power Generation to begin harvesting molybdenum-99 from the Darlington reactor plant in Canada. Molybdenum is used to produce technetium-99 through a natural decay mechanism.
Doses of nuclear medicine are handled by staff that are monitored for radiation exposure. Mirion Technologies (MIR) produces dose calibrators, thyroid uptake systems, and hot lab equipment used to prepare radiopharmaceuticals.
In the company’s 2025 annual report, Mirion indicated its radiation therapy quality assurance products are used by about 80% of cancer centers worldwide. More than 1 million people are estimated to wear the company’s dosimetry badges.
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions estimates that thermal energy makes up about two-thirds of energy demand in U.S. industry. Most of the thermal energy needs are met by burning fossil fuels on site.
Process heat is heat used directly to make products rather than to generate electricity. At a chemical plant, much of it is delivered as steam, which supplies the heat for chemical reactions and for distillation columns that separate and purify products.
Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations in Texas produce more than 4 billion pounds of materials a year. Specifically, the plant makes plastics for food packaging and wire and cable insulation. Today, an aging natural gas plant on site supplies that steam along with electricity.
Dow is coordinating with X-energy to construct four high-temperature gas-cooled reactors on site to supply the facility with both electricity and steam. With each Xe-100 reactor unit capable of producing 200 megawatts (MW) of heat or 80 MW of electricity, the four-unit nuclear plant is expected to cut the facility’s emissions by almost half a million tons of CO2 per year. The four Xe-100s would take over as the natural gas plant retires.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission finished its environmental assessment ahead of schedule in May 2026. The company anticipates a construction permit decision in the first half of 2027, and that the Department of Energy will add up to $1 billion in cost-shared funding for a total of over $2 billion of project support.
More than 160 military and maritime vessels run on nuclear reactors, most of them being submarines. Reactors allow the vessels to stay at sea for significantly longer periods of time without refueling.
Reactors designed by Rolls-Royce have been used in the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet since the 1950s. Rolls-Royce manufactured the PWR2 reactor, a pressurized water design, used in the Vanguard and Astute-class submarines. Its PWR3 upgraded design will power the future Dreadnought class.
Every reactor for the AUKUS program, which is a joint initiative between the U.K., Australia, and the U.S., will come from its Raynesway site in Derby, where Rolls-Royce recently launched an effort to double manufacturing space.
Babcock International supports the U.K.’s entire nuclear submarine fleet, with deep maintenance at Devonport in Plymouth and in-service support at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland. The company’s nuclear segment, representing 86% of its U.K. defense work, contributed to revenue growth of 14% in the year ended March 2026.
Hospitals, navies, and industrial plants are not traditionally thought of as customers for nuclear technology. Nuclear energy extends beyond just a means of powering AI data centers. Medicine, defense, and industrial heat are all playing a larger role in the applications for nuclear power, and their share of revenue contribution will increase in the quarters and years ahead.
While most nuclear exposures are weighted heavily toward uranium miners, NUKZX includes companies involved in multiple reactor-powered applications. NUKZX serves as the underlying index for the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ).
This article was originally published on ETFDb.
vettafi.com is owned by VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”). VettaFi is the index provider for NUKZ, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, NUKZ is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi. VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of NUKZ.
Most of the attention on nuclear energy goes to electricity production for national grids and powering AI data centers. But nuclear is capable of more than just producing electricity. Nuclear technology also helps diagnose disease and treat cancer, power submarines, and can supply heat to industrial plants. These markets have their own customers and budgets, and the VettaFi Nuclear Renaissance Index (NUKZX) contains multiple companies that serve them.
More than 50 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed worldwide each year, according to the World Nuclear Association. About 80% of the world’s nuclear medicine procedures use technetium-99, a short-lived isotope used for imaging.
Nuclear reactors are used to produce some of these isotopes. In 2024, BWX Technologies (BWXT) began working with Ontario Power Generation to begin harvesting molybdenum-99 from the Darlington reactor plant in Canada. Molybdenum is used to produce technetium-99 through a natural decay mechanism.
Doses of nuclear medicine are handled by staff that are monitored for radiation exposure. Mirion Technologies (MIR) produces dose calibrators, thyroid uptake systems, and hot lab equipment used to prepare radiopharmaceuticals.
In the company’s 2025 annual report, Mirion indicated its radiation therapy quality assurance products are used by about 80% of cancer centers worldwide. More than 1 million people are estimated to wear the company’s dosimetry badges.
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions estimates that thermal energy makes up about two-thirds of energy demand in U.S. industry. Most of the thermal energy needs are met by burning fossil fuels on site.
Process heat is heat used directly to make products rather than to generate electricity. At a chemical plant, much of it is delivered as steam, which supplies the heat for chemical reactions and for distillation columns that separate and purify products.
Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations in Texas produce more than 4 billion pounds of materials a year. Specifically, the plant makes plastics for food packaging and wire and cable insulation. Today, an aging natural gas plant on site supplies that steam along with electricity.
Dow is coordinating with X-energy to construct four high-temperature gas-cooled reactors on site to supply the facility with both electricity and steam. With each Xe-100 reactor unit capable of producing 200 megawatts (MW) of heat or 80 MW of electricity, the four-unit nuclear plant is expected to cut the facility’s emissions by almost half a million tons of CO2 per year. The four Xe-100s would take over as the natural gas plant retires.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission finished its environmental assessment ahead of schedule in May 2026. The company anticipates a construction permit decision in the first half of 2027, and that the Department of Energy will add up to $1 billion in cost-shared funding for a total of over $2 billion of project support.
More than 160 military and maritime vessels run on nuclear reactors, most of them being submarines. Reactors allow the vessels to stay at sea for significantly longer periods of time without refueling.
Reactors designed by Rolls-Royce have been used in the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet since the 1950s. Rolls-Royce manufactured the PWR2 reactor, a pressurized water design, used in the Vanguard and Astute-class submarines. Its PWR3 upgraded design will power the future Dreadnought class.
Every reactor for the AUKUS program, which is a joint initiative between the U.K., Australia, and the U.S., will come from its Raynesway site in Derby, where Rolls-Royce recently launched an effort to double manufacturing space.
Babcock International supports the U.K.’s entire nuclear submarine fleet, with deep maintenance at Devonport in Plymouth and in-service support at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland. The company’s nuclear segment, representing 86% of its U.K. defense work, contributed to revenue growth of 14% in the year ended March 2026.
Hospitals, navies, and industrial plants are not traditionally thought of as customers for nuclear technology. Nuclear energy extends beyond just a means of powering AI data centers. Medicine, defense, and industrial heat are all playing a larger role in the applications for nuclear power, and their share of revenue contribution will increase in the quarters and years ahead.
While most nuclear exposures are weighted heavily toward uranium miners, NUKZX includes companies involved in multiple reactor-powered applications. NUKZX serves as the underlying index for the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ).
This article was originally published on ETFDb.
vettafi.com is owned by VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”). VettaFi is the index provider for NUKZ, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, NUKZ is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi. VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of NUKZ.
