What Is NLR? VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF

NLR is the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF, launched in August 2007 and tracking the MVIS Global Uranium & Nuclear Energy Index. It is one of the oldest nuclear-focused funds, holding roughly 29 companies across uranium mining, nuclear utilities, and reactor and component manufacturing.

The fund is built to capture the full nuclear value chain rather than just the mining slice, which sets it apart from miner-heavy peers. At a 0.52% expense ratio and around $4.6 billion in assets, it offers a lower-cost, more balanced way to own the nuclear energy theme.

Approximate weights as of mid-2026; refresh quarterly from VanEck's fund page. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

NLR spreads its weight relatively evenly across the top of the portfolio. Cameco, Constellation Energy, Public Service Enterprise Group, BWX Technologies, and Fortum each sit near the top, blending a major uranium miner with nuclear utilities and a reactor and components maker.

Further down, the fund holds names like Centrus Energy, Oklo, NexGen Energy, Denison Mines, and Uranium Energy. The presence of utilities such as Constellation and Public Service Enterprise Group is the defining feature of NLR, tying it to nuclear power generation economics rather than pure uranium mining sentiment.

NLR and URA both target nuclear energy but express it differently. NLR is balanced and utility-inclusive, with no single holding above roughly 8%, so it behaves more like a diversified nuclear-power basket. Global X's URA is miner-heavy and concentrated, with about 23% in Cameco and a long tail of junior explorers, which makes it a sharper play on uranium spot prices.

NLR also costs less, 0.52% versus 0.69%, and pays a larger distribution thanks to its utility holdings. Investors who want steadier, broader nuclear exposure tend toward NLR, while those who want maximum leverage to uranium mining lean toward URA. Neither choice is a recommendation; they simply weight the same theme differently.

NLR's performance blends the commodity sensitivity of uranium miners with the steadier returns of nuclear utilities. It fell hard after 2011 as nuclear sentiment soured, then recovered strongly into the mid-2020s as reactor restarts, data-center power demand, and small modular reactor interest revived the theme.

Because utilities make up a meaningful share of the fund, NLR tends to swing less than pure mining funds, though it still carries real single-theme risk. Its outlook depends on nuclear demand, utility economics, and uranium supply. Past performance does not predict future results, and the fund can decline in a downturn.

NLR suits investors who want exposure to nuclear energy but prefer a more balanced, lower-cost, and less miner-concentrated approach than URA. Its blend of miners, reactor makers, and utilities makes it steadier than a pure uranium fund, though it is still a focused single-theme holding that many people size as a small satellite.

Walnut is not an investment adviser and this is not a recommendation. Whether NLR fits depends on your goals, time horizon, and comfort with single-theme risk. The aim here is to describe what the fund owns and how it behaves, so you can decide for yourself or with a licensed professional.

NLR trades like any stock on major brokerages, including Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, and Public. Most of these platforms support fractional shares, so you can invest a fixed dollar amount into NLR rather than buying whole shares.

If you want to track NLR alongside a thematic basket and see how the nuclear theme fits your overall allocation, you can connect your broker to Walnut. Walnut keeps trade execution at your broker and mirrors your positions so you can monitor NLR next to the rest of your portfolio.

ETFs are passive bundles; thematic baskets in Walnut let you concentrate within them. If you hold NLR as a core position, these are the themes you might layer on as satellites.

The bottom line on NLR: it is the cheaper, more diversified way to own the nuclear theme, spreading exposure across uranium miners, reactor builders, and nuclear utilities rather than piling into miners. At 0.52% it undercuts URA on cost and swings less because utilities dampen commodity volatility, which makes it a steadier thematic satellite for the nuclear story.

Whether NLR is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is NLR a buy?

NLR yields ~2.5% (annual distribution) as of mid-2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see NLR dividend: yield and schedule.