Nuclear energy is having a moment, and Tortoise Capital Advisors wants in on the action with a new actively managed fund designed to ride the wave. The Tortoise Nuclear Renaissance ETF (TNUK) isn't your typical uranium miner play. Instead, it's a bet on the entire nuclear ecosystem, from the companies running reactors to the ones building the equipment and providing maintenance services.
The timing matters here. According to Matt Sallee, executive vice president and head of investments at Tortoise Capital, we're not talking about some speculative energy trend. Real policy shifts and actual demand growth are creating what he sees as a genuine infrastructure opportunity.
"The reconciliation bill establishing a nuclear power production tax credit put a floor under the price of electricity produced from nuclear plants," Sallee told MarketDash. He also pointed to the 2025 nuclear executive order as evidence that government backing is solidifying, particularly around domestic nuclear development and supply chains.
But the policy support is only part of the story. Sallee believes the more compelling driver is something much simpler: people need electricity, and they need a lot more of it than they used to.
"Domestic electricity demand is growing for the first time in 20 years, and all sources of power are being called upon to meet those needs," he explained. The culprits are familiar: AI-driven data centers that consume staggering amounts of power, plus broader electrification across the economy. That combination is pushing utilities to find reliable, always-on baseload power. Nuclear fits that bill better than most alternatives.
So what makes TNUK different from other nuclear funds? It's the diversification strategy. Rather than loading up on uranium miners, the fund spreads its bets across utilities, reactor operators, equipment manufacturers and service companies. Sallee says that's deliberate.
"We believe better risk-adjusted returns are possible through diversified exposure, including miners, utilities, and operation and maintenance companies," he noted. The fund intentionally limits direct commodity exposure, especially to pure-play uranium miners, because those tend to be volatile.
"The portfolio seeks to avoid direct commodity price exposure by limiting allocation to pure-play miners," Sallee said. Operators and reactor vendors tend to be less volatile than upstream players, which he argues leads to better risk-adjusted returns over time.
While TNUK focuses primarily on the U.S., it also includes exposure to Europe and South Korea. Sallee views these regions as critical to the global nuclear buildout, not just side bets.
The fund's active management approach is another key piece. In a sector as politically sensitive and heavily regulated as nuclear energy, Sallee says flexibility matters. Being able to respond to shifting policy signals, changing market sentiment, or delayed project timelines gives the fund an edge that passive strategies can't match.
"Active management allows us to reposition the portfolio to capitalize on prevailing market conditions," he said, adding that it also helps manage headline risk when the news cycle turns negative.
Looking forward, Sallee acknowledges the biggest risks to the nuclear renaissance story would be a policy reversal or a significant drop in electricity demand. Barring those scenarios, he thinks TNUK is best suited for investors willing to take a long-term view.
"The fund's active management positions it for long-term allocations given the ability to respond to changing conditions," he said.
As nuclear energy moves from political talking point to actual project execution, Tortoise is betting that investors are ready to view it less like a relic of the past and more like essential infrastructure for the next decade of growth.