Quick Read – Despite the DOE’s $17.5 billion reactor commitment, URA is flat and NLR is down 8% year to date, failing to capture the policy tailwind. – URNM’s physical uranium sleeve feeds spot price gains straight into NAV, delivering 15% returns over the past year versus NLR’s…
ar-zero gain. – Swapping URA for URNM in a taxable account risks triggering gains on URA’s 167% five-year return, making partial reallocation a smarter move. – The Department of Energy’s $17.5 billion loan commitment backing 10 new Westinghouse reactors and the domestic uranium supply chain should have been a green light for the two ETFs most retail investors use to play the nuclear renaissance. Both funds have lagged
The Global X Uranium ETF (NYSEARCA:URA) is down 0.56% year to date, and the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NYSEARCA:NLR) is down 8.31%. For investors who bought URA or NLR specifically to own the reactor buildout, the gap between the policy tailwind and the fund performance is worth understanding before adding more. Why Investors Own URA and NLR The largest and most liquid uranium ETF is URA, with roughly $7.81 billion in net assets as of April 30, 2026, and an expense ratio of 0.69%.
It offers one ticker access to miners, converters, and reactor-adjacent industrial names. NLR takes a broader view, blending uranium miners with nuclear utilities and equipment manufacturers, while offering a 2.77% dividend yield and a 0.52% expense ratio. Both funds are legitimate ways to own the theme.