nuclearbottlenecks

The chokepoints

Each layer of the supply chain has its own physics, its own moat, and its own catalyst calendar. Pick a strait.

I

Enrichment & HALEU

Centrus runs the only NRC-licensed US HALEU cascade; Western SWU is essentially two suppliers plus a Russian import ban with waivers expiring.

LEU · SILXY · CCJ · GENERALMATTER

II

Uranium conversion & deconversion

UF6 conversion is a three-plant Western market and the Metropolis, Illinois plant is the only US converter.

SOLS · CCJ · UEC · BWXT · LEU · GEV

III

Uranium supply & mining

Utilities are structurally under-covered into the late 2020s while Western restarts chase a deficit the spot market already prices.

CCJ · SRUUF · UUUU · UEC · EU · DNN · NXE · URNM

IV

Fuel fabrication & TRISO

Fabricated assemblies come from a handful of licensed lines; TRISO and metallic SMR fuels need facilities that mostly don't exist yet.

BWXT · LEU · XE · CCJ · GEV · LTBR · WESTINGHOUSE

V

Large forgings & heavy components

Reactor pressure vessels need ultra-large forgings only a few plants on earth can pour; order books fill years ahead.

BWXT · CW · JPSWY · HII

VI

Zirconium & specialty metals

Nuclear-grade zirconium sponge and cladding tube is a single-digit-supplier market squeezed between defense and civilian demand.

ATI · CCJ · LTBR · FRAMATOME

VII

SMR & advanced reactor platforms

The visible layer: listed SMR developers racing NRC milestones and first concrete — pre-revenue, catalyst-dense, repricing violently.

BWXT · OKLO · SMR · NNE · LTBR

VIII

Restarts, uprates & nuclear utilities

Existing gigawatts are the only nuclear that ships this decade; restarts, uprates and datacenter PPAs carry dated public catalysts.

CEG · VST · TLN · NEE · PEG

IX

Instrumentation, controls & outage services

Every reactor — new or restarted — buys radiation detection, I&C, dosimetry and outage services from a thin specialist bench.

MIR · CW · BWXT · FLR

X

Private giants & exposure vehicles

Westinghouse, X-energy, TerraPower, Kairos, Urenco — the nuclear cap tables without tickers, and the listed paths into them.

CCJ · BEP · XE · LEU · WESTINGHOUSE · TERRAPOWER · KAIROSPOWER · URENCO