Shares in small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology company NuScale cratered after a short seller claimed that the SEC is investigating it.

But NuScale said that it "is unaware of any reason for such an investigation," and that the SEC "has not communicated to NuScale that it is the target of a current or prospective investigation."

The media arm of short seller Hunterbrook Capital published public records requests that show the SEC confirming its Division of Enforcement is conducting an “active and ongoing” investigation into NuScale.

The documents do not reveal the scope of the investigation, nor what it is pertaining to.

Hunterbrook Capital said that it did not have a position in NuScale.

Its media division also criticized rival SMR company Nano Nuclear Energy for having “no revenue, no products, ‘laughable timelines,’ [and] part-time executives.”

For that piece, Hunterbrook said that it had taken a short position against Nano.

SMR companies have pitched themselves as an antidote to the data center industry's power crunch, with nuclear power theoretically able to support growing AI loads.