Nuclear energy has seen a hot start to 2026, benefitting from positive sentiment around artificial intelligence, ongoing support from the US government, and notable nuclear news from Meta (META). With only a few trading days in the books, some names in the VettaFi Nuclear Renaissance Index (NUKZX) are already up over 35% year to date through January 8. 

That is before factoring in strong performance on Friday following announcements between Meta and NUKZX constituents, Oklo (OKLO) and Vistra (VST). At writing, OKLO and VST were up over 12% intra-day on January 9. Meta is partnering with OKLO to power its data centers in Southern Ohio and will help with funding the project by pre-paying for power. Meta also agreed to purchase nuclear power from Vistra, inking a 20-year power purchase agreement for over 2,600 megawatts. (Read more.) 

More broadly within NUKZX, the strength so far has largely come from select names in the fuel and advanced nuclear categories. As shown below, advanced nuclear includes Nano Nuclear (NNE), NuScale (SMR), and Oklo, which were up over 35% year-to-date through January 8. These developers of small modular reactors (SMRs) tend to be sensitive to sentiment for artificial intelligence, which has been strong to start the year.

DOE award drives mixed performance in fuel

Within Fuel, Centrus Energy (LEU) is up 17.9% through January 8 after announcing a $900 million task order from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its Ohio enrichment facility to produce High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium at commercial levels. The award was part of a competitive process and was included in a 2024 bipartisan funding package. 

In total, the DOE awarded $2.7 billion in task orders for uranium enrichment, with two other companies receiving $900 million each. With energy security at the forefront, the government is clearly focused on supporting domestic enrichment for existing reactors and eventually advanced reactors. 

As part of the announcement, Global Laser Enrichment, which is owned by Cameco (CCJ) and Silex Systems (SLX AU), was awarded $28 million. SLX is off 20% to start the year through January 8, given disappointment around not winning the larger task order. The contrasting performance of LEU and SLX provide yet another example of why it can be difficult to stock pick in the nuclear space. 

Diversification still en vogue in 2026

Diversification remains a key benefit of the index design for NUKZX. CCJ, SLX, and LEU are all in the index. However, the weakness in SLX is less impactful in a diversified index with 44 constituents. 

With the really strong start to the year, risk is probably not top of mind. Investors should note, though, that execution risk is a reality in the nuclear space. There are pre-revenue companies and names pioneering new technology. Diversification helps mitigate the impact of these risks. Additionally, the utilities and construction & services segments within NUKZX can provide more stability and offset to a degree some of the execution risk found elsewhere in the basket. 

NUKZX is the underlying index for the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ). 

This article was originally published January 12th, 2026 on ETF Trends.