Holtec International Prepares for IPO Amid Historic Nuclear Revival

Holtec International, a long-standing private player in the nuclear energy sector, is preparing for a public debut that could value the company at more than $10 billion. CEO Krishna Singh confirmed to Barron’s that the company aims to go public within months, likely by early 2026. If completed, the IPO would be the largest nuclear energy listing in years and one of the few pure-play options available to investors in the sector.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, Holtec has built a reputation as a reliable engineering and services firm focused on nuclear decommissioning, spent fuel storage, and, increasingly, advanced reactor development. The company currently generates more than $500 million in annual revenue from activities such as dismantling closed nuclear power plants and building proprietary containment systems for spent fuel. Unlike earlier-stage nuclear startups, Holtec is a mature enterprise with decades of technical credibility and cash-generating operations.

But Holtec’s ambitions now go far beyond its core services. The company is attempting what would be a first in U.S. history—reviving a shuttered nuclear plant. Its Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan, closed in 2022 for economic reasons, is slated to restart by the end of 2025. This reactivation is being funded in part by a $1.52 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), of which $251.8 million has already been disbursed. The state of Michigan has also committed $300 million to support the restart.

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The Palisades project is more than a restart—it’s a platform. Holtec plans to install two of its own SMR-300 small modular reactors at the site post-2030, in collaboration with Hyundai Engineering & Construction. The SMRs are based on light water reactor (LWR) technology and are intended to serve as a replicable model for next-generation zero-carbon energy generation across the country.

The company projects that 10 to 20 SMRs could be under construction in the coming decade, each with a projected cost of around $3 billion. Proceeds from the IPO will help fund early-stage licensing, manufacturing capacity, and site development to scale out SMR deployment, according to Singh. Sites under consideration for future SMRs include Holtec’s Oyster Creek site in New Jersey, where up to four reactors could eventually be deployed, as well as potential installations in Utah and Wyoming, supported by favorable legislation and federal partnerships like Idaho National Laboratory.

In addition to its reactor plans, Holtec continues to advance HI-STORE CISF, its consolidated interim storage facility in New Mexico for spent nuclear fuel. The project recently won a U.S. Supreme Court case affirming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to license private used fuel storage, clearing a major legal hurdle. While some political resistance remains at the state level, the NRC has already issued an environmental impact statement and a license for the project. The facility is based on Holtec’s proven below-ground storage system, designed to withstand even extreme seismic events or terrorism.

Holtec’s entry into the public markets also comes amid surging interest in nuclear energy from data centers and clean energy advocates. With electricity demand rising sharply—driven by AI workloads, electrification, and grid resilience needs—nuclear power has reentered policy favor as a source of firm, zero-emission baseload power. Holtec has been in active discussions with data center operators about long-term nuclear power purchase agreements and sees a major opportunity to fill this niche.

Despite the momentum, Holtec’s plans aren’t without critics. Environmental groups have raised concerns about aging equipment at Palisades, limited transparency around the financial structure, and inadequate emergency preparedness. Some point to the reuse of steam generator tubes from 2011 and lingering safety issues from the plant’s prior operations, including the failure of a control rod drive system. Questions have also been raised about Holtec’s shift in strategy—using a decommissioning trust fund for restart activities—and whether that aligns with its fiduciary obligations.

Nevertheless, Holtec’s IPO could significantly reshape the nuclear investment landscape. Existing nuclear companies like NuScale (SMR, $10B market cap), Oklo (OKLO, $8B), and Nano Nuclear (NNE, ~$1.5B) remain in pre-revenue stages, whereas Holtec is already profitable and deeply embedded in the U.S. nuclear ecosystem. Industry observers like Lightbridge CEO Seth Grae argue that Holtec represents a more commercially grounded option for public equity markets, with real contracts, federal backing, and near-term cash flow.

If successful, Holtec’s public offering and the Palisades revival could set a precedent for modernizing America’s dormant nuclear fleet. With bipartisan support for nuclear energy as a tool for economic growth and decarbonization, Holtec stands at the forefront of a historic pivot in U.S. energy policy—one that blends industrial pragmatism with next-generation ambition.