The SPAC Podcast

The Future of Nuclear Power and SMRs

• Joshua Wilson

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From taking NuScale Power public to launching Eagle Energy Metals, Chris Sorrells explains how nuclear energy and SMRs (small modular reactors) are reshaping the energy sector. He connects decades of experience to the growing nuclear and uranium opportunity.

Guest: Chris Sorrells – Chairman and CEO of Spring Valley
Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-sorrells-5a6a836/

Watch more episodes at: YouTube.com/@UCiOCVRrRqqmq20QNV9I43Zg 
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn:
👉 Michael J. Blankenship - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeblankenship/
👉 Joshua Bruce Wilson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabrucewilson/
To Contact Us or Collaborate:
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The views, opinions, and statements expressed by the guest are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The SPAC Podcast, its hosts, or affiliated organizations. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice.

Michael J. Blankenship is a licensed attorney and is a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP. Joshua Wilson is a licensed Florida real estate broker and holds FINRA Series 79 and Series 63 licensure. The content of this podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal, financial, or compliance advice. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of any regulatory agency, law firm, employer, or organization.

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Let’s Connect on LinkedIn:

👉 Michael J. Blankenship - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeblankenship/

👉 ...

Mike Blankenship: You, you've helped bring new scale power public in 2022. And I'll say that's a very good De-SPACing story. And now. Eagle Energy Metals this year, both linked to nuclear energy and small modular reactors.

What connects those stories for you and what does it tell us about where the nuclear and uranium markets are headed? 

Chris Sorrells: I did my first deal in 1998. I ended up as part of the banking team that took United States Enrichment Court Public today that is renamed Centris and it's a publicly traded company that has done incredibly well.

So I had my first, that, that was the first exposure. I became fascinated by it and over the ensuing years. I spent a lot of time, looking and probing about ways to build platforms in, in the nuke space. It was a relatively fragmented market on the supply side and or a service side.

And it is just something I spent a lot of time in. Ultimately, I ended up becoming a board member investor and COO of a publicly traded nuke services company that had, really unique technology simulation software. So it created the digital twin that was used to train and the workforce.

So you go inside the simulator and you were inside a real life new plan. So I spent almost five years helping build that company and that is where I encounter new scale. New scale used the GSE simulator and that simulator allowed them to go through the NRC regulatory process to become the first licensed SMR.

Upon exiting that, that role, that is when we launched the s. And so I had a history with some team members, employees, boards et cetera. And it felt like a very opportune time. Again, going back to that first thing and the first question focus on first movers.

There was no way to play pure play, SMR, anywhere in the world, any exchange. And so we felt that there would be some opportunity. We thought that the technology had started to advance to a commercial point with the license, and that was a huge barrier that took four years plus and, hundreds of millions of dollars.

To achieve. So we were very thrilled. Playing off of that new scale came in on the backs of new scale Eagle and that really led us to the supply chain, different part, but fuel is key and it's tech agnostic. So all these different providers need fuel. So we really liked the Eagle story.