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July 15 (Reuters) - Standard Nuclear said on Wednesday it has raised $150 million in its U.S. initial public offering after slashing its offer size by more than half, as investors remained cautious about valuations.

The Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based nuclear fuel company sold 10 million shares at $15 each, giving it a valuation of about $2.41 billion. The shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on July 16 under the ticker symbol "STDN".

It had earlier intended to offer 18.25 million ​shares at between $18 and $21 each.

The IPO market has been regaining momentum despite geopolitical uncertainty, as resilient equity markets encourage companies to move forward with their listing plans. Investors, however, continue to scrutinize valuations.

Nuclear-sector companies that listed recently have struggled to hold on to their debut gains, with reactor developers X-Energy XE.O and Deep Fission FISN.O trading below their IPO prices.

Still, companies in the sector are expected to benefit from the U.S. government's push to expand nuclear power, with a goal of quadrupling the country's nuclear power capacity by 2050 to meet rising electricity demand from AI-driven data centers, ⁠electric vehicles and cryptocurrencies.

Standard Nuclear produces nuclear fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors and microreactors, with a ​focus on scaling up domestic capacity.

Founder Thomas Hendrix will control about 60.8% of the company's voting power through his Class B shares after the offering.

Standard Nuclear plans to use the IPO proceeds to meet working capital requirements, general corporate purposes and potential acquisitions or investments in complementary businesses, technologies or assets.

BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and UBS Investment Bank are among the ​underwriters for the offering.