The Energy Reality Check: SMRs vs. QIMC’s Natural Hydrogen
⚡ The Energy Reality Check: SMRs vs. QIMC’s Natural Hydrogen
NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) rocketed from $1.88 in January 2024 to an all-time high of $57.42 in October 2025 for an astonishing 2,954% gain in just 21 months. The rally was fueled by investor excitement that small modular reactors (SMRs) might one day deliver the constant, clean electricity needed to power the next generation of AI data centers.
However, the story has shifted sharply. In recent weeks, SMR shares have tumbled more than 50% as investors confront a harsh reality: commercial deployment remains at least a decade away, and the road ahead is burdened by regulatory red tape, massive costs, and public resistance. Despite their “small” branding, SMRs are still nuclear reactors: complex to license, slow to build, and politically toxic to site. No matter how modern the design, no community wants a nuclear reactor in its backyard.
💡 QIMC: The Clean-Energy Solution AI Can Actually Use
By contrast, QI Materials (CSE: QIMC) offers a safer, greener, and more realistic approach to powering the AI era. QIMC is pioneering exploration for naturally occurring white hydrogen: a continuously regenerating clean-energy resource produced deep within the Earth. Unlike SMRs, which could take years to build and face political battles at every turn, white hydrogen wells can be drilled, tested, and scaled far more rapidly.
This makes QIMC’s model uniquely aligned with Bloomberg Intelligence’s recent commentary that hyperscalers are shifting toward self-reliant energy models (click here to see the story):
"A lot of these folks that are the hyperscalers funding the construction of data centers are saying, ‘We’re going to have our own electricity, our own power.’"
In our view, QIMC has a far greater chance of making that vision a reality through white hydrogen harvested directly from the ground compared to SMR developers chasing a decade-long nuclear dream.
🧮 The Valuation Gap Is Stunning
At $0.50 per share, QIMC’s market capitalization is only US$44.8 million, or about ½ of 1% of NuScale’s US$8.49 billion valuation. Yet both companies are targeting the same problem… the urgent need for scalable, clean energy to feed AI’s insatiable power demand.
If white hydrogen proves commercially viable even on a modest scale, QIMC’s re-rating potential is enormous. Its drilling in Nova Scotia is set to commence imminently, with initial hydrogen targets to be unveiled this week at the Nova Scotia Mining Conference positioning QIMC as one of the first publicly traded companies actively drilling for natural hydrogen in North America.
🌍 White Hydrogen vs. Graphene: Timing Is Everything
Ask yourself is it better to pay US$890 million for HydroGraph Clean Power (CSE: HG) in an industry (graphene) whose global market peaked nearly a decade ago and remains worth only ~US$100 million or to pay US$44.8 million for QIMC, a first-mover in a brand-new clean-energy frontier that could define the next decade?
White hydrogen isn’t a recycled hype cycle it’s an emerging natural phenomenon that could become the foundation for AI-powered energy independence. By 2026, this sector is likely to be the hottest clean-tech story in the world, and QIMC is positioned at its center.
Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. NIA is not an investment advisor and does not provide investment advice. Always do your own research and make your own investment decisions. NIA has received compensation from QIMC of US$50,000 cash for a six-month marketing contract. This message is for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide investment advice.
