NuScale brings back workers, eager for new capital

NuScale Power Inc. is bringing back furloughed workers and has hopes of raising new rounds of capital.

But before that can happen, the Corvallis-based nuclear energy startup’s shares need to be freed from limbo.

NuScale, which is developing scalable nuclear reactor technology, furloughed most of its 100-person work force and halted most of its operations earlier this year after it’s primary financial backer, the Michael Kenwood Group, became the focus of a federal U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission probe.

Francisco Illarramendi, the Connecticut hedge fund’s majority owner, pleaded guilty in March to operating a Ponzi scheme. Last week, the SEC said it has recovered around $230 million from an off-shore fund held by Illaramendi’s hedge fund.

Though NuScale has declined to disclose the size of the Kenwood Group’s investment in the company, court records filed by the SEC in January said Illarramendi invested $23 million in an unnamed West Coast based nuclear energy company that was due a $5 million cash infusion to cover operational expenses.

Bruce Landrey, NuScale’s chief marketing officer, said the investment also included a majority stake in the company.

A receiver appointed by the courts to oversee the Kenwood Group’s assets remains in control of a majority of NuScale’s stock, Landrey said.

The company has been using an undisclosed amount of bridge funding from individual investors to cover its operational expenses and bring its work force back from 40 to around 60.

And though the company is eager to raise new capital, Landrey said new investors have been unwilling to put together a new funding round until its the fate of its Kenwood shares are resolved.

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@ErikSiemers | esiemers@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3418