ONE Nuclear Energy LLC is heading to the public markets. The American developer of natural gas and small modular reactor (SMR) power plants has formalized a merger with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VII, a Nasdaq-listed SPAC trading under the ticker HVII. The agreed equity valuation stands at roughly one billion dollars. The next step is a special shareholder meeting, where investors will vote on approving the transaction before it can close.
The deal’s numbers reflect the scale of ONE Nuclear’s ambitions. The transaction is expected to generate up to $210 million in gross proceeds, combining PIPE financing with the approximately $195 million held in Hennessy Capital VII’s trust account. Once completed — targeted for the first half of 2026, subject to customary conditions — the combined company will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker ONEN. This represents a direct entry into public markets, bypassing the traditional IPO route.
Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, ONE Nuclear is pursuing a hybrid strategy: gas first, nuclear second. Its two priority development sites are in Texas and Oklahoma, where the company plans to deploy up to 2 gigawatts of natural gas capacity by 2028. Advanced SMR technology will follow, with a target of 3 gigawatts by 2034. The approach is deliberate: deliver power to customers as quickly as possible using gas as a bridge fuel, then scale up with nuclear. Co-founder and CEO Richard Taylor has described U.S. energy demand as a race against the clock.
The company’s primary target market is AI data centers. According to projections built into ONE Nuclear’s plans, energy demand from AI data centers is set to triple by 2030, accounting for 7.5% of total U.S. electricity consumption. ONE Nuclear positions itself as a direct power supplier to those customers, with offtake agreements already under negotiation. The logic is straightforward: major tech operators need stable, continuous, low-emission power sources — a profile that nuclear fits precisely. Gas covers the timing gap while reactors are developed and licensed.
Hennessy Capital VII was formed in January 2025, with an investment thesis focused from the outset on energy and data center infrastructure. The ONE Nuclear deal is the direct result of that strategy. With the registration statement now effective with the SEC and shareholder meeting dates set, the path to listing is firmly on track. If the vote succeeds — and there is reasonable cause for optimism — ONE Nuclear will become one of the very few publicly traded SMR developers in the United States, opening access to public capital markets for an asset class that has until now remained largely the domain of private and institutional investors.
