EXCLUSIVE: Nano Nuclear Responds To Hunterbrook Short Report, Denounces 'Ulterior Motives,' Affirms Future Timelines (UPDATED)

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details from Hunterbrook Media regarding a request for comment to Nano Nuclear ahead of the publication of its short report.

Executives at Nano Nuclear Energy Inc NNE responded to allegations made in a July short report that sent its share price spiraling downward.

Hunterbrook Allegations: Hunterbrook, a hedge fund that doubles as an investigative news outlet, published a report ridiculing the company on July 19.

The report accused Nano Nuclear, a portable nuclear reactor company in its research stage, of having “no revenue, no products, ‘laughable timelines,’ [and] part-time executives.” Hunterbrook’s article said that the development of nuclear reactors would take much longer than NNE’s timeline.

Nano Responds:  Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of Nano Nuclear Energy, responded to the allegations made by Hunterbrook in an email to Benzinga.

“We're not sure what we did to deserve any attention from these so-called ‘journalists' who also short sell the stocks that they write about. Since there are clearly ulterior motives none of what is said can be taken seriously, by anyone,” Yu said. “We're proud that NANO is being built at the right place at the right time, contributing to a sustainable energy future.”

James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of Nano Energy, responded to Hunterbrook’s assertion that Nano’s timelines are unrealistic.

"NANO has followed the guidance of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), who currently estimate and advise a 40-month timeline from submission to the issuance of a license for NANO's micronuclear reactors,” Walker said. “This does not even consider potential timing efficiencies stemming from the ADVANCE Act, which was recently signed into law, and which looks to streamline the regulatory process and shorten licensing timeframes.”

“NANO has consulted and is working with NRC veterans with decades of experience and feels comfortable with its development and regulatory timeframes, which are of course subject to risks that we've been very clear to our investors about,” Walker added.

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Walker said that the named experts in the report (Allison Macfarlane, a former chair of the FEC, and Paul Dorfman, a visiting fellow at the University of Sussex) are “known to be anti-nuclear and would never say anything good about any nuclear venture.”

Walker went on to say that the authors of the short report “lack education” on nuclear and that microreactors historically took two to three years to license, not 10 to 15 (Hunterbrook reported on an even longer timeline of 15 to 20 years).

The report also claimed that Nano did not respond for comment, which Yu disputed.

“NANO has no missed calls, messages or emails from Hunterbrook through any of our multiple channels. If they did reach out, we would have educated them on all these topics, but they clearly have ulterior motives, which is well documented,” Yu said.

Hunterbrook Media provided Benzinga with two emails it said were sent to Nano Nuclear earlier in July requesting comment.

Yu defended Nano executives’ part-time employment as “sweat equity,” saying that they will be employed full-time when the company is capitalized further.

Yu also referenced Hunterbrook’s short report on Nuscale Power Corp SMR in June.

“We can all see how that turned out for Hunterbrook,” Yu said. Nuscale shares are trading nearly 30% higher since Hunterbrook’s report.

Price Action: Nano Nuclear went public in May, rising over 500% to a market capitalization of over $600 million.

Its share price declined over 10% after Hunterbrook released its report on July 19 before rebounding later in the day and closing near its open.

NNE was down 3.01% to $15.27 on Tuesday, falling nearly 20% through the first two days of the week. It is still trading more than three times higher than it did during its IPO, though down from its peak of $37.51.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.