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Army reaches agreement with private industry for nuclear micro-reactors

By U.S. Army Communication and Outreach OfficeAugust 26, 2026, https://www.army.mil/article/294891/army_reaches_agreement_with_private_industry_for_nuclear_micro_reactors

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Army is announcing today that the Janus Program has selected five nuclear energy vendors, and five initial locations.

In partnership with the Department of War Innovation Unit (DIU), the Army is awarding up to a combined $2.2 billion to own, construct, and operate nuclear microreactors on military installations.  These vendors will deliver safe, secure, and reliable nuclear power, strengthening the Army’s ability to project power globally, while supporting the revitalization of American industrial capacity and technological leadership. With the private sector funding expected along with these government dollars, the Army expects more than 20 total nuclear microreactors will be built and operated across Department of War installations.

The five selected vendors and installations are as follows:

  • Antares Nuclear, Inc. – Fort Bragg, North Carolina
  • BWXT Advanced Technologies, LLC – Fort Campbell, Kentucky
  • General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems – Fort Hood, Texas
  • Radiant Industries, Inc. – Fort Benning, Georgia
  • Westinghouse Government Services – Fort Drum, New York

“Since launching the Janus Program, our mandate from President Trump and Secretary Hegseth has been clear: secure the power our warfighters need to train, deploy and win,” said Dan Driscoll, Secretary of the Army. “Awarding these contracts accelerates our ability to deliver safe, reliable baseload power directly to our installations. We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids.”

“The Janus Program is grabbing the baton from Project Pele and the [Department of Energy’s] Reactor Pilot Program,” said Dr. Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. “We are seeking not just reactors capable of turning on for a brief demonstration, but rather systems able to deliver power with high-capacity factors for years of operation. The Janus Program will be a complete success when and only when we have assisted multiple nuclear companies in developing truly reliable and affordable nuclear microreactors which they can sell to other buyers beyond just the military

After gathering technical and operational information from industry via an Area of Interest released by DIU, the Army down-selected potential industry awardees for negotiation of Other Transactions Authority-based agreements. A decision board and panel of top nuclear and technical experts from the Department of Energy, national laboratories and representatives across the services provided deeply rigorous input on the technical risks, financial situation, and management capabilities of the solutions. The close collaboration with technical experts and service representatives ensured selected vendors would provide solutions to enhance energy resilience for specific operational needs at military installations.

“When DOE created an authorization pathway for the demonstration of advanced reactor designs, we quickly began to realize how valuable these technologies could be for fortifying our national defense infrastructure,” said Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish. “We are honored to work in lockstep with the Army to leverage nuclear energy innovation in support of our country’s military operations at home and abroad.”

The alignment of these vendors with Army installations represents the culmination of a year-long effort to evaluate and prioritize installations based on a multitude of factors from energy needs to seismic and hydrological considerations, all with a primary focus on safety. As the Janus Program moves forward, it is intended that these vendors will also site nuclear technologies on other service installations for continued energy resilience across the entire DOW. Additional Army and other Service sites will be announced at a later date. The Army continues to drive towards the September 2028 target outlined in President Trump’s Executive Order 14299 for operation of a first reactor, regulated by the Army, on a military installation.

“The Army is leading the nation in its return to nuclear preeminence via the Janus Program,” said Jason Craft, Janus Program manager. “Our selected industry awardees represent the most viable technologies to achieve this capability, setting conditions for both installation energy resilience and operational energy solutions.”

Using a milestone-based payment model, vendors will receive government funding only after successfully hitting specific technical goals. This investment model brings together approximately $2.2 billion across FY2027-2031 along with significant capital investment from each vendor. This technology development model will speed up the delivery of next-generation energy solutions to the warfighter and promote innovation while ensuring accountability. The prototype reactors will be contractor-owned and operated.

“We need more power. We need it delivered faster and cheaper, and we need it to be more reliable,” said Owen West, director, DIU. “With Janus, DIU is assisting the Army’s micro reactor build — speeding military energy production to protect the nation.”

Collaboration with utility providers is essential to the success of Army’s nuclear power strategy and the Janus Program. The Army will work closely with serving utilities and privatized utility providers on the Janus Program to ensure the best possible outcomes. The Army also invites continued collaboration with utilities both now and in the future on utility-scale, grid-facing power generation opportunities sited on Army installations.

“The Army’s Janus Program has my full support, said Emil Michael, the War Department’s Chief Technology Officer. “The War Department is acting swiftly to implement President Trump’s Executive Order, Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, to deploy a nuclear reactor on a military installation by September 2028. We are unleashing America’s domestic nuclear industrial base to ensure a more resilient and secure energy supply for the joint force.”

Reliable energy underpins national defense. The down-selection to these five vendors represents a critical step forward in securing the operational readiness of our forces. The Army is committed to fortifying the defense and strength of the nation now and for future generations.

August 31, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

Newcleo-Led Consortium Chosen For French Project On Floating Nuclear Power Plants

By David Dalton, 27 August 2026, https://www.nucnet.org/news/newcleo-led-consortium-chosen-for-french-project-on-floating-nuclear-power-plants-8-4-2026

Maritime sector a ‘largely unexplored opportunity’ for reactor industry

A consortium led by France-based advanced reactor and nuclear fuel company Newcleo has been selected to take part in a project supporting the decarbonisation of the French maritime sector.

The project, managed by France-based investment bank Bpifrance and named “n-Floating”, aims to demonstrate the relevance and technical feasibility of an innovative floating nuclear power solution, consisting of a non-self-propelled floating unit housing multiple Newcleo-developed LFR-AS-200 reactors, each offering an electrical output of 200 MW.

The consortium brings together Newcleo, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, a leading classification society, and ABMI Groupe, a French engineering company with expertise both in maritime and nuclear sectors.

The project has been awarded almost €1m ($1.1m) in funding under the programme.

Work has already begun and is expected to run for approximately 18 months.

“Maritime deployment of advanced reactors opens a broader and still largely unexplored market for nuclear energy” said Newcleo chief executive officer Stefano Buono.

“Floating nuclear offers an opportunity to bring reliable, low-carbon power to applications at sea and in coastal locations.”

Newcleo said the project aims to develop a standardised, deployable and competitive solution for low-carbon energy generation at sea and in coastal locations.

The initial phase of the n-Floating project will focus on conceptual studies for a nuclear barge, assessing its potential to deliver reliable, low-carbon and competitive energy across a range of applications. These include supplying isolated regions, ports and associated industrial hubs, and coastal areas, as well as supporting energy-intensive applications such as desalination and the production of low-carbon fuels.

The project will also define the subsequent development programme and roadmap towards potential industrial deployment by 2036, with the ambition to design and build the solution in France.

August 31, 2026 Posted by | France, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

Army to spend $2B to build nuclear microreactors at 5 bases as US seeks to ramp up nuclear power

By  JENNIFER McDERMOTT and MATTHEW DALY , August 27, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Army announced Wednesday that it plans to add nuclear microreactors at five military bases from New York to Texas as a reliable source of energy independent of the commercial electric grid.

The announcement comes as the Trump administration pushes hard to develop the next generation of nuclear power, including billions in loans for large nuclear reactors to meet skyrocketing power demand from data centers and a pilot program to boost advanced reactor designs and projects for military and civilian use. No nuclear microreactors are supplying power to the commercial electric grid in the United States today.

Five companies selected by the Army will be awarded up to $2.2 billion in total over five years to own, construct and operate the microreactors, if they hit set milestones along the way for their performance. The Army expects that more than 20 nuclear microreactors will be built and operated………….. https://apnews.com/article/nuclear-trump-army-microreactors-janus-200edd5fb98b6fe04d029a3c1dba1a4a

August 31, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

Army Selects Vendors, Sites for Nuclear Microreactors

Aug. 27, 2026 | By U.S. Army Communication and Outreach Office , https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4584583/army-selects-vendors-sites-for-nuclear-microreactors/

The Army announced yesterday that the Janus Program selected five nuclear energy vendors and five initial locations to build and operate nuclear microreactors.

In partnership with the War Department’s Defense Innovation Unit, the Army is awarding up to $2.2 billion in total for these microreactors. The project will deliver safe, secure and reliable nuclear power, strengthening the Army’s ability to project power globally, while supporting the revitalization of American industrial capacity and technological leadership. 

“Since launching the Janus Program, our mandate from President [Donald J.] Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has been clear: secure the power our warfighters need to train, deploy and win,” said Dan Driscoll, Army secretary. “Awarding these contracts accelerates our ability to deliver safe, reliable baseload power directly to our installations. We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids.”

With private sector funding expected alongside government investment, the Army expects to build and operate more than 20 nuclear microreactors across War Department installations.

The five selected vendors and installations are:

  • Antares Nuclear Inc. at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
  • BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
  • General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems at Fort Hood, Texas.
  • Radiant Industries Inc. at Fort Benning, Georgia.
  • Westinghouse Government Services at Fort Drum, New York.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………As the Janus Program moves forward, vendors will bring nuclear technologies to other military installations for continued energy resilience across the entire War Department. The Army will announce additional military sites at a later date and continues to drive toward the September 2028 target outlined in Executive Order 14299 for operation of a first reactor.

“The Army is leading the nation in its return to nuclear preeminence,” said Jason Craft, Janus Program manager. “Our selected industry awardees represent the most viable technologies to achieve this capability, setting conditions for both installation energy resilience and operational energy solutions.”

Using a milestone-based payment model, vendors will receive government funding only after successfully hitting specific technical goals. This investment model brings together approximately $2.2 billion across fiscal years 2027-2031, along with significant capital investment from each vendor. 

This technology development model will speed up the delivery of next-generation energy solutions to the warfighter and promote innovation while ensuring accountability, Craft said. The prototype reactors will be contractor-owned and operated. Collaboration with utility providers is needed for the success of the Army’s nuclear power strategy and the Janus Program. The Army will work closely with providers on the program to ensure the best possible outcomes, while continuing to collaborate with them now and in the future.

“The Army’s Janus Program has my full support,” said Emil Michael, undersecretary of war for research and engineering and War Department chief technology officer. “The War Department is acting swiftly to implement President Trump’s executive order. … We are unleashing America’s domestic nuclear industrial base to ensure a more resilient and secure energy supply for the joint force.”

August 30, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, USA | Leave a comment

New nuclear plan could deliver up to 6 GW of power to data centers by 2040

NANO Nuclear and Tillman are planning up to 6 GW of advanced nuclear power for future data-center campuses.

Interesting Engineering. By Neetika Walter, Aug 24, 2026 

US-based nuclear technology company NANO Nuclear Energy has signed a non-binding commercial framework with Tillman Global Holdings to explore deploying advanced nuclear reactors across large AI data-center developments in the US.

The companies are targeting at least 2 gigawatts of advanced nuclear capacity by the mid-2030s and 6 GW or more by 2040. The plans remain subject to definitive agreements, customer commitments, financing, regulatory approvals and other project requirements.

The framework identifies NANO Nuclear as Tillman’s anticipated preferred nuclear technology provider for its planned AI industrial zones. Tillman is developing a multi-state pipeline of sites designed around the large power requirements of hyperscale and AI customers.

The companies plan to evaluate potential sites, licensing requirements, customer demand, and project financing as individual developments move forward. The broader strategy is to reserve space for nuclear generation alongside other power sources as data-center campuses expand.

Nuclear enters the data-center mix

NANO Nuclear’s KRONOS MMR Energy System is a 15-megawatt high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed for modular and phased deployment. The companies say that architecture could allow nuclear capacity to be added in stages as electricity demand grows across large data-center campuses.

The arrangement pairs Tillman’s experience in developing and financing large digital and energy infrastructure with NANO Nuclear’s reactor technology and nuclear licensing capabilities. The proposed model could also allow Tillman or its affiliates to own and finance qualifying power projects while NANO Nuclear supplies reactors and fuel and supports development and operations………………….

Gigawatts planned for AI

The proposed deployment pathway would start with 2 GW or more of advanced nuclear capacity by the mid-2030s before expanding to at least 6 GW by 2040. The companies are also evaluating potential projects in selected international markets where Tillman has digital infrastructure interests.

The framework contemplates a milestone-based equity arrangement as well. Tillman could receive warrants to purchase up to $100 million of NANO Nuclear stock, with most of the warrants tied to future reactor purchase commitments and project-development milestones.

It also includes a proposed $5 million initial restricted stock grant to Tillman, with most of that grant subject to additional milestones. The terms remain subject to definitive agreements.

Tillman Co-President Sachit Ahuja said the company is planning for the long-term electricity requirements of its AI campuses…………

The companies now need to move from the commercial framework to site-specific development, licensing and financing agreements before any reactors can be deployed. https://interestingengineering.com/energy/advanced-nuclear-power-ai-data-centers

August 29, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

The Race to Power AI Is Reviving America’s Nuclear Ambitions

By Haley Zaremba – Aug 25, 2026, https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/The-Race-to-Power-AI-Is-Reviving-Americas-Nuclear-Ambitions.html

  • Surging AI and data-center electricity demand is attracting billions of dollars to advanced nuclear technologies.
  • SMRs could offer a cheaper and more flexible alternative to traditional nuclear plants, but none are commercially operating in the United States yet.
  • Applied Atomics is reviving BWXT’s shelved mPower technology and Virginia test infrastructure in an effort to commercialize modular nuclear power.

The artificial intelligence boom is supercharging the development of next-gen nuclear energy technology. Big Tech and private equity are catalyzing the research and development of cutting-edge approaches to round-the-clock clean energy production as hyperscalers add power-hungry data centers to the grid at a blistering rate.

“A single hyperscale data center can consume as much electricity as 50,000 homes,” writes the MIT Energy Initiative. “U.S. data centers consumed more than 4% of the country’s total electricity in 2023, and by 2030 that fraction could rise to 9%,” MIT goes on to warn. This means that the expansion of data centers to fuel the integration of AI into everything from your email provider to your electric toothbrush is seriously changing the way we consume – and therefore the way we produce – energy in the United States and beyond. Not only do we need to expand energy production capacity at a breakneck pace, but we also need to find a way to do so without throwing climate goals out the window. 

As a result, venture capital funding is going gangbusters for both nuclear fusion and fission startups. According to a recent report from Axios, global investment in both fission and fusion has topped USD $4.5 billion across 81 companies in 2026 so far. At this rate, projections show that 2026 will shatter the previous annual record of $6.2 billion for 93 companies in 2025.

Some of the biggest figures and deepest pockets in Silicon Valley are throwing their weight behind nuclear energy advancement as a silver bullet solution to the energy monster that AI is creating. Major investors include Microsoft’s Bill Gates and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. “There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough,” Altman said at the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “It motivates us to go invest more in fusion.”

In addition to nuclear fusion, there is a lot of buzz around the potential for small modular reactors (SMRs) to transform the aging and ailing nuclear power sector in the United States. These smaller and cheaper reactors hold considerable promise for overcoming some of the hurdles that have been causing nuclear energy to fall out of fashion in the last several decades. 

Traditional nuclear power plants are enormously expensive and time-consuming to develop. The United States’ newest traditional nuclear power plant, Georgia’s Plant Vogtle, finally came online in 2024, years late and billions of dollars over budget. While this has scared a lot of policymakers and investors away from large-scale nuclear power, there is hope that SMRs could allow for a more agile energy future at a time when carbon-free energy sources are sorely needed. 

However, SMRs have been slow to deliver on the considerable hype behind them. While billions of dollars have gone toward developing the technology, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission only approved NuScale’s uprated SMR design last year, there are still zero commercial SMRs operating in the country. Some experts think that the buzz has turned to bust. But others, buoyed by the new wave of investment interest driven by the AI boom, think that the timing is finally right for the SMR revolution. 

For example, a duo of scientists with SpaceX pedigrees is taking advantage of an abandoned SMR test facility in Virginia, with the hopes of being the team to push the SMR revolution over the finish line and into commercial reality. “We’re standing on the shoulders of giants here, right?” Applied Atomics co-founder Ben Kellie recently told the Washington Post. “We’re starting with something that had $400 million in investment put into it, and significant time and effort. That’s a leg up.”

Whether this project is the one that will ultimately serve as a proof-of-concept for SMRs, it will at the very least provide more data in a nascent field where hard numbers are sorely needed. “It is not just about whether the technology is viable,” David Schlissel, a ‘longtime nuclear consultant to consumer and environmental groups,’ told the Washington Post. “It is also whether the cost is viable. … The industry is running around with all this hype trying to sell nuclear broadly. But they still have not fully tested and built any of these new reactors.”

August 28, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, USA | Leave a comment

Polish billionaire’s financing plans for 14 UK SMRs analysed

“I think the price projections are utterly worthless. If you don’t know the construction cost and time, the cost of capital, the equity structure, not to mention the O&M (operation and maintenance) cost, you have no idea what the power price will be.”

“So if things don’t go to plan, it will be the government’s fault, not theirs. (SGE’s)”

– Stephen Thomas, professor at the University of Greenwich Business School, working in the area of energy policy. 

25 Aug, 2026 By Tom Pashby, https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/polish-billionaires-financing-plans-for-14-uk-smrs-analysed-25-08-2026/

Financing plans from Polish billionaire Michał Sołowow’s SGE to enable the deployment of 14 small modular reactors (SMRs) in the UK have been revealed by NCE and analysed by an expert.

In July, SGE – described as a dedicated European SMR development and investment platform – announced its plans to build 14 GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactors on three sites in the UK.

In total, the investment is expected to be around £35bn and the first SMRs are hoped to be operational in 2034.

To achieve that, SGE has submitted an application under the UK’s Advanced Nuclear Framework (ANF) to develop the combined 4.2GW fleet which, if successful, could deliver 11% of UK power demand for at least sixty years.

Using the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, New Civil Engineer (NCE) has secured correspondence between SGE and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) where SGE set out more details about its ambitions to finance its SMRs.

SGE’s representatives at etara – a power, energy and infrastructure advisory firm – sent a letter from SGE to DESNZ deputy director for advanced nuclear Andrew Cooke dated 26 June.

The letter was addressed to the then DESNZ secretary of state Ed Miliband.

“We are writing to set out how SGE’s privately led SMR fleet deployment programme can support DESNZ’s priorities on clean power, energy security, industrial growth and reliable nuclear baseload, ahead of our application to the Advanced Nuclear Framework (ANF) which we plan to submit next week on the 1 July 2026,” it said.

SGE said it is “bringing forward one of the UK’s most mature privately led SMR propositions”, and this would be “on better value for money terms helping reduce the long-term impact on UK bill payers”.

It backed up the promise of value for money by saying: “Our fleet approach across Europe, including leveraging our regional exclusivity on the GE Vernova technology deployment and our 14 unit programme in Poland with our JV partner Orlen, gives us confidence that we can deliver on attractive economic terms

Their plans were shown to University of Greenwich emeritus professor of energy policy Steve Thomas, who shared his analysis with NCE. SGE provided NCE with responses to his analysis.

SGE’s letter said: “Our preliminary financial modelling is indicating that the CfD (contracts for difference) strike price is expected to be below that of Hinkley Point C with a lesser risk transfer than the Sizewell C Rab (regulated asset base) model, offering better value for money.”

Thomas said: “As I never tire of pointing out, CfD tells you nothing other than that the plant is not bidding into the market. Hinkley has one, so will Sizewell. The very big difference is that for Hinkley, the price is fixed and the investor income will be what it will be and for Sizewell, the investor income is fixed and the electricity price will be what it will be.

“I think the price projections are utterly worthless. If you don’t know the construction cost and time, the cost of capital, the equity structure, not to mention the O&M (operation and maintenance) cost, you have no idea what the power price will be.”

Responding to Thomas’s analysis, SGE said: “It is true that for Hinkley the CfD price is fixed and the pain of overruns is impacting the investors.

“For Sizewell it is true that the consumer will pay whatever it costs, but it is not quite right that there will be a CfD, there already are charges to consumers under the Rab model – well before the plant is constructed or produces power.

“The CfD model proposed by SGE, as with Hinkley pre-sets at FID the strike price, so keeps the completion risk and majority of cost outturn risk with the investors, hence the projections do matter for the investors and for the value for money evaluation by the government.

“As with all standard project appraisals, our financial model underpins the indicative strike price. It is informed by live data from construction of the first BWX300 SMR in Canada and benefits from economies of scale from our projects across Europe.”

The letter said SGE’s offer would involve “lesser risk transfer than the Sizewell C Rab model”.

Thomas said it was “interesting that this is implicit criticism of the Sizewell deal and I wonder how that will go with DESNZ, which sold Sizewell on the basis it was better for consumers than Hinkley, now we are going back to the Hinkley model because it is better than Sizewell.”

Responding to Thomas’s analysis, SGE said: “There is no criticism of the Sizewell model, just a factual reference to the relative risk allocation – the CfD model keeps a greater level of risk (e.g. completion risk) with the investors, not with taxpayers or consumers.

“It is common practice to benchmark, and this is all that the reference does. The proposed model draws on lessons from Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C and other reference projects across Europe.”

SGE’s letter said the success of its proposition is “subject to supportive government engagement” and said, “our delivery team with the capability of GE Vernova and Samsung is capable of delivering first power to the grid by 2034”.

Thomas said: “So if things don’t go to plan, it will be the government’s fault, not theirs.”

SGE responded, saying: “This is not a fault allocation point but a simple point that nuclear projects require state engagement – self-evidently, the CfD agreement needs the state’s agreement and signature.

“Delivery of any major infrastructure project requires close collaboration between government and the client organisation across planning, regulation, financing and delivery.”

The letter said: “To convert this mature proposition into delivery, we are seeking government support that is practical, targeted and designed to be off government balance sheet to mobilise our private capital.”

Thomas analysed, saying: “That sounds like the Rab process which didn’t go well as the government ended up having to take near enough half the project, so definitely not off the government balance sheet.”

SGE responded, saying: “The support proposed is not Rab but CfD. The ANF is seeking a structure that mobilises private capital. SGE is offering such private capital under CfD terms.

“Our proposal is designed to mobilise private capital through a structure that is intended to remain off the government balance sheet, subject to the final model and accounting treatment.”

Finally, the letter also said: “Utilising the CfD and SoSIA (Secretary of State Investor Agreement) contractual frameworks with specific modifications that take the lessons learnt from Hinkley Point C (HPC) and from a number of new nuclear projects across Europe that have since HPC been enabled under CfD structures.”

Thomas said: “I will give very good odds that one of the specific modifications is that the strike price is not fixed at the time of FID (final investment decision), but if costs go up, so will the strike price.”

SGE said: “As per the CfD structures in Europe that are referred to, there are pain share mechanisms, as well as gain share mechanisms, but not full pass-through to the strike price.

“SGE is an equity investor into a new nuclear programme and, along with its strategic partners, it intends to take development and construction risks – it will not simply transfer any cost increase into the CfD.

“Any modifications to the CfD and SoSIA frameworks would be subject to agreement with government and reflected in the agreed contractual and regulatory framework and be subject to the controls that exist for any state support regarding value for money considerations.”

Later in the correspondence between SGE and DESNZ officials, public relations staff working on behalf of SGE asked DESNZ officials to attend their press launch event in July and for a minister to provide a quote for their press release.

Officials were unavailable for the launch event.


In response to the request for a quote, a DESNZ official said: “As the submission of a proposal is part of a routine administrative process, consistent with the department’s approach to comparable processes such as entry into the Generic Design Assessment (GDA), DESNZ does not provide public quotes or commentary at the point of application.

“This approach helps ensure that the department remains impartial throughout the assessment process and avoids any perception that a submission has been endorsed or prejudged prior to the completion of the relevant assessment and decision-making processes.

“Should a proposal be successful, there may be opportunities for communications and stakeholder engagement at the appropriate stage. However, at the point of submission, the department will not be providing a quote.”

An SGE spokesperson told NCE: “SGE’s interactions with DESNZ have been and remain positive and constructive.

“We understand the department’s approach that reflects its standard policy in relation to the ANF process. We look forward to continuing our engagement with DESNZ as we progress our UK project.”

August 27, 2026 Posted by | business and costs, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, UK | Leave a comment

Russia builds 15 small marine nuclear reactors with 175-MWt capacity for icebreakers

Russia has built 15 RITM-200 reactor units. Rosatom chief
Alexey Likhachev outlined plans to use these small-scale systems for
broader energy needs during a government meeting on nuclear infrastructure.
He reported that Russian factories have manufactured 15 of these reactors
so far, while workers are building 13 more.

 Interesting Engineering 23rd Aug 2026,
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/russia-builds-15-small-marine-reactors

August 27, 2026 Posted by | Russia, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

£1.1bn works package lined up as Wylfa nuclear plans gather pace

22 Aug 2026, Mark Mansfield,
https://nation.cymru/news/1-1bn-works-package-lined-up-as-wylfa-nuclear-plans-gather-pace/

Preparatory works worth up to £1.1bn are being lined up as part of plans to build the UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors at Wylfa on Ynys Môn.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has begun sounding out contractors for a major package of work including site clearance, earthworks, infrastructure and utilities.

The procurement notice does not name the site, but Wylfa has been selected for the UK’s first SMR development, with an initial three Rolls-Royce reactors planned.

GBE-N signed a contract with Rolls-Royce SMR in April to begin design work on the reactors, which are expected to generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of around three million homes.

The newly disclosed early works package has an estimated value of between £730m and £1.1bn and would prepare the site for the main construction programme.

Work could include species relocation, remediation, site clearance, construction utilities, drainage and haul roads, as well as extensive earthworks.

GBE-N said the work would establish the required ground levels and safe access routes for later construction, creating the physical platform needed for the main development.

The contract is currently expected to run from June 2028 until June 2034, with an option to extend it until June 2037.

GBE-N had considered dividing the work into two contracts but has opted for a single package in an effort to reduce the risks associated with different contractors working across interconnected elements of the project.

However, the organisation cautioned that the scope, timetable and estimated value could change as the programme develops.

The procurement process is expected to formally begin with publication of a tender notice in March 2027.

Webinar

GBE-N is also due to hold a webinar for potential suppliers on September 3 outlining the proposed procurement approach and details of the early works.

The package has been identified as particularly suitable for small and medium-sized businesses, potentially opening opportunities for companies in Wales to become involved in the supply chain.

The latest development follows the signing of the contract between GBE-N and Rolls-Royce SMR earlier this year.

The Wylfa project is expected to support around 8,000 jobs across the UK, including up to 3,000 locally during peak construction, according to industry estimates.

Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive Chris Cholerton said at the time: “This contract unlocks the delivery of our first three units at Wylfa and brings certainty to the UK SMR programme.”

The former nuclear power station stopped generating electricity in 2015 after more than four decades of operation.

Previous plans by Japanese company Hitachi for a new large-scale nuclear power station at Wylfa were abandoned in 2020 after funding could not be secured.

The Wylfa scheme is subject to regulatory approvals and a final investment decision, with electricity generation expected to begin in the 2030s.

August 26, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, UK | Leave a comment

Floating 10 MW nuclear reactor proposed for California.

By Efosa Udinmwen, 22 Aug 26, https://www.techradar.com/pro/floating-10-mw-nuclear-reactor-proposed-for-california-barge-mounted-smr-aims-to-power-15-000-homes

The Port of Long Beach is exploring small modular reactors that could eventually supply electricity for port operations and ships.

Bluecore Energy, a startup building compact nuclear reactors meant to operate from floating barges, is leading the proposal.

This marks a potential return of nuclear power development in California after nearly five decades under state restrictions.

A startup’s barge-based reactor plan

Bluecore has leased space at Berth 48 within the Port of Long Beach, where it intends to develop and test its floating reactor system.

The company’s initial system is rated at 10 MWe, a capacity the startup says can scale through pairing multiple units together, an approach which suits continuous port operations partly because individual reactors are designed to run for years on a single fueling cycle.

August 25, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, USA | Leave a comment

SMRs and microreactors in the military

Aleksander Olech, 15 August 2026

 Small modular reactors are not a technology that will solve every problem
faced by an army during wartime. They will not replace fuel, the deployment
of forces or existing sources of energy. On the other hand, they could
become an important element in preparing the state for crisis and war.


Modern armed forces need not only soldiers, tanks and artificial
intelligence, but also a stable power supply for the systems on which
military operations depend. It is from this perspective that the military
importance of SMRs and microreactors should be developed.

Modern warfare is
not limited to strikes against selected military units. Increasingly, it
begins with an attempt to paralyse the state by depriving it of energy,
transport capabilities, communications and the ability to exercise command
rapidly. Russia has demonstrated this in its operations against Ukraine.
Attacks against energy infrastructure are not an addition to a military
operation, but part of the way in which war is conducted.

Hybrid activities
may also serve as a prelude to open conflict, while a strike against the
state’s support infrastructure may precede direct action on the
battlefield.

 Defence24 15th Aug 2026, https://defence24.com/armed-forces/smrs-and-microreactors-in-the-military

August 23, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Short sellers reap $2Bn profit as modular nuclear reactor stocks tumble

Unproven technology won investment from power-hungry AI
hyperscalers but has yet to deliver consistent revenues

The Financial Times, .Ramsay Hodgson in London, 19 Aug 26,
https://www.ft.com/content/a2f0e0f8-9350-4124-af77-62219e77e777

Short sellers have reaped large profits from betting against small modular nuclear reactor companies, as the collapse of the “hype cycle” that had sent their share prices soaring wipes billions off their market value.


Funds made an estimated $2.1bn shorting three stocks — US-listed NuScale Power, Nano Nuclear and Sam Altman-backed Oklo — over the past year, according to data provider S3 Partners.


The three companies, which are lossmaking and have little or no revenue, surged last year as investors raced to capitalise on growing interest in nuclear energy among AI hyperscalers looking for new sources of power. Regulatory changes and funding announcements from the Trump
administration also helped the sector.

But a total of $30.3bn has been wiped off their collective market value since their peak in October last year amid growing concerns over the lack of immediate revenue and the long build-out timelines for the technology.


“The stocks were overinflated in price, based on speculation,” said Adam Stein, director of nuclear energy innovation at the Breakthrough Institute, a climate and energy think-tank.


The sector went through a “textbook hype cycle” last year, he added. “[It is] very typical of a company that is in this early pre-consistent revenue phase.”

Small modular nuclear reactors are assembled from modules built in factories to save time and
money, and produce around 300MW or less, compared with more than 1,000MW for traditional
reactors.


Only two commercial SMRs are currently operable — in Russia and China, with more than 80 designs in various stages of development.


A key test of investor appetite towards the nuclear sector is expected in the coming weeks, when Holtec International and Westinghouse, two US-based companies with SMR divisions, are expected to list.

Short sellers have piled into bets against the companies based on a view that their shares rose to unsustainable levels, driven by a limited supply of publicly traded stocks and a focus on the potential demand from AI, rather than the time and capital expenditure required to commercialise the technology.


“On the one hand there was some support from the government, and no one wants to bet against Trump, and on the other there was this whole AI [demand] story which everyone was really bullish about [last year],” said Christian Putz, founder and chief executive of investment firm ARR
Investment Partners, who has previously shorted Oklo but has since unwound that position.


Around 18 per cent of Oklo and NuScale’s outstanding shares remain out on loan — a proxy for short selling — while almost 30 per cent of Nano’s are on loan, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Meanwhile, X-energy has shed $5.8bn in market value since the surge that followed its initial public offering in April. Short sellers have earned an estimated $67mn from bets against thecompany since mid-May, according to S3 Partners. The company, which is backed by Amazon and
Ken Griffin and has yet to receive full regulatory approval to build its helium-cooled reactor, has 9 per cent of its shares out on loan.

“The sentiment has changed this year, people are far more critical,” said Putz. These companies “have almost zero revenue for the foreseeable future and, on top of that, there are very high capex [capital expenditure] requirements”.

Demand for energy in the US is set to soar over the coming decade, in part due to the rapid development of power-hungry data centres by AI hyperscalers. According to data from BloombergNEF, US data centre power demand is set to climb from 34.7 gigawatts in 2024 to 106GW by 2035.


Big Tech is increasingly turning to the emergent SMR technology to meet its future power needs. In January, Meta struck a deal with Oklo and Bill Gates-backed TerraPower, in which it agreed to make an upfront cash injection to support development of the reactor technology.

The Trump administration vocally backed the nuclear sector last year, pledging to cut red tape and invest tens of billions of dollars to build new reactors and reopen old ones to generate the to “win” the global AI race. In June, the Department of Energy announced $17.5bn of loans to help rebuild the US nuclear supply chain.


However, timelines for delivery of the unproven reactors remain uncertain. Analysts at BNP Paribas have expressed concerns over shortages of high-assay low-enriched uranium, a special type of nuclear fuel vital for SMRs. The earliest some will come online is mid-to-late 2028, if manufacturers are able to speed up delivery while also satisfying regulators, although the majority will arrive during the 2030s, said Stein at the Breakthrough Institute.

NuScale, which reported a $96.7mn loss in the first half of 2026, faces a shareholder class-action lawsuit alleging it misled investors, to which it must respond by September 8. It is building a modular light-water reactor based on a more conventional pressurised-water design.


Nano Nuclear — whose microreactors are in the development stage — has never generated any revenue and posted a $14mn operating loss in the first quarter of the year.

Oklo hopes to deliver commercial power to customers from its liquid sodium rather than water- cooled Aurora reactors. US energy secretary Chris Wright was previously a board member. It has yet to secure a full licence from the US nuclear regulator to build and operate its reactor.

“What we have seen in 2025 seems to me like an industry bubble that is already deflating,” said Siegfried Eggert, chief executive of activist short seller Grizzly Research, who has no short positions against the companies.


“I believe most knowledgeable investors understood for a while that the valuations seemed ratherextended given the timeline of this industry,” he added.


Nano Nuclear said the rise or fall in the share price of companies said little about the success of the underlying business and disputed the “hype cycle” characterisation. Oklo said the company had made “tangible progress” over the past year and expected commercial operation of its Aurora reactor to begin in 2028.

NuScale declined to comment. X-energy did not respond to a request for comment.

August 21, 2026 Posted by | business and costs, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

Canada’s Nuclea Energy Signs Agreement To Acquire Moltex Advanced Nuclear Portfolio

By David Dalton, 17 August 2026, https://www.nucnet.org/news/canada-s-nuclea-energy-signs-agreement-to-acquire-moltex-advanced-nuclear-portfolio-8-1-2026

UK-based company was placed in administration in 2025

Ontario, Canada-based Nuclea Energy has entered into a definitive agreement with Moltex Energy Ltd – currently in administration – and its joint administrators to acquire advanced nuclear technology assets across its molten salt reactor and nuclear fuel recycling portfolio.

Moltex Energy Ltd, the UK-based parent company of MoltexFlex Limited and Moltex Energy Canada Inc, was placed in administration in 2025 after its directors failed to achieve the majority shareholder consent to new investments or the sale of its assets.

Nuclea Energy is developing the Morpheus microreactor, a lead-cooled, factory-built micro-modular reactor.

The target portfolio has been developed by Moltex over more than a decade, backed by over CAD96m ($68m, €59m) in funding from private investment, Canadian public programmes and the US Department of Energy, the company said in a news release.

The portfolio includes technology and development materials associated principally with Moltex’s Stable Salt Reactor–Wasteburner (SSR-W), an advanced molten salt fast reactor, and its next-generation Waste To Stable Salt (WATSS) spent nuclear fuel recycling process.

It also includes an extensive patent portfolio of 80 patents across nine patent families in advanced nuclear technology – including nuclear fuel, reactor, chemistry and materials – and nine pending patents on the fuel recycling process, Nuclea said.

August 21, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

The Microreactor Miracle Meets a Morphing AI-Nuclear Future

questions about whether the country will achieve its long-term core nuclear deployment objectives. And over-relying on a boost from the micro reactor miracle offers meager dividends when deployment is paramount.

August 15, 2026, By: Kenneth Luongo, https://nationalinterest.org/blog/energy-world/the-microreactor-miracle-meets-a-morphing-ai-nuclear-future

The microreactor milestone is real, but shifting AI models, China’s challenge, and deployment delays could complicate America’s nuclear ambitions.

It was impressive that four microreactor start-up companies beat the clock and achieved reactor criticality in compliance with the Trump administration’s arbitrary July 4 Reactor Pilot Program (RPP) deadline. But these reactors are years away from deployment, and the excessive swaggering associated with this modest achievement is out of step with the quavering nuclear energy realities ricocheting off a rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) system.  

US Microreactor Achievements

Of the four reactors that achieved zero power, only Antares has an identified market application beyond this demonstration. Its Mark-1 reactor has been selected as a pilot technology for powering Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

The Antares Mark-0 reactor, which is the zero-power test reactor and prototype for the commercially oriented R1 Mark1, was the first to meet the criticality deadline on June 4 at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). It uses High Assay Low-Enriched (HALEU) TRistructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel and is sodium-cooled. The projected commercial reactor can provide 100 kilowatts to 1 megawatt (MW) electric power. Beyond its work with the Department of Defense (DOD), Antares also has been working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on potentially powering a Moon base. 

Valar Atomics’ Ward-250 achieved criticality on June 18 in Utah and claimed it produced 10 kilowatts (kW) of thermal output. It had previously announced a criticality test at Los Alamos National Laboratory in November 2025. The Ward-250 is a TRISO-fueled high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) that uses helium as a coolant. After the test, Valar announced a partnership with Nvidia to explore powering AI data centers and stated that its evolving commercial unit could be “deployed by the hundreds at ‘gigasites’” that could support manufacturing as well as energy production.

Deployable Energy, a year-old company, met the criticality mark on June 30 at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The company’s founder reportedly delivered the reactor core in the bed of a Ford F-150 truck. The reactor is part of the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative at INL, which is designed to carry the RPP into the future. The reactor is a water-moderated, helium-cooled design using 4.9 percent enriched fuel. It is considered a “nuclear battery” and would max out at 1 MW. It is designed to fit in a 20-foot shipping container and be dropped at any location.

Aalo Atomics Aalo-X Critical Test Reactor sneaked in under the criticality deadline at midnight on July 4 at INL. The test reactor included a full-scale core and was designed to demonstrate key components that will be used in the Aalo-X, a low-enriched uranium (LEU) fueled, sodium-cooled 10 MW reactor. The goal is to deploy groups of these reactors in 50 MW Aalo Pods to support commercial data centers. Aalo recently formed a strategic partnership with Crusoe, a vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider, to  “validate nuclear power’s effectiveness with AI workloads” at INL.

The Mutating AI Data Center Model 

With the microreactor milestone behind them, the Trump administration and reactor developers now face an evolving landscape for nuclear energy. AI data centers have been viewed as the top driver of America’s energy growth and ideal for pairing with nuclear energy. Projections indicate these centers could add 100 gigawatts (GW) to the US grid by 2030. 

But the data center opportunity is rapidly morphing, and opposition is growing; the now-dominant American AI model is under pressure at home and abroad. That raises questions about what role new nuclear power ultimately will play as the AI arena evolves.

The assumption has been that the hyperscalers, including Apple, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, will build massive data centers as fast as they can to support US AI  frontier modelcomputing growth. One assessment identified the data center build time as roughly two to three years

But the frontier model concept and its computing campuses are under pressure.

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, has been on a recent crusade criticizing the American AI frontier model as a trap that requires businesses to provide their intellectual property (IP) to AI’s leading companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. Karp claims that these models’ architecture creates an “addiction” among users and allows the system provider to absorb proprietary corporate data that can be used to compete against their current customers in the future. 

He argues that companies should build their AI systems on models they own, training them on their proprietary content and keeping their data under their control. He also advocates for an “application layer” his company has developed with NVIDIA that can protect an enterprise’s IP. If Karp’s concept catches on, and Meta seems to have taken note, it could impact the mega data center build-out, reducing the number required and downsizing their power requirements. That could be a challenge for some leading nuclear reactor companies betting on the data center boom, or it could favor dial-an-output modular reactors if the costs are competitive.

China’s Dual AI Challenge

A version of the Karp concept seems to have already been adopted by China, which, because it is already closing the quality gap with the best US AI models, now poses a double threat to US dominance. 

China is giving away fast, cheap open-source AI models. These free Chinese AI platforms are popular in Africa and Latin America but are also being used by US and European companies, including Siemens, DoorDash, and Airbnb. 

Of course, one goal of China is to allow companies to easily build systems on their platform in order to serve geopolitical objectives and create dependencies it can exploit in the future. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) evaluated China’s DeepSeek AI model and found that its AI offerings advance Chinese Communist Party narratives. It concludes that China’s DeepSeek “remains a leading open weight model developer and has contributed to a rapid increase in adoption of PRC [People’s Republic of China] models globally.”  It cautions that the expanding global use of these models “May pose a threat to application developers, to consumers, and to US national security.” 

This approach by AI is similar to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has helped the country capture hundreds of infrastructure projects across over 140 countries, resulting in deep relationships and financial dependencies, particularly with emerging economy nations. And while its energy projects so far have heavily tilted toward fossil fuels, BRI’s relationships and financial model enhance China’s position as a future provider of new nuclear energy in the Global South, posing a threat to the future US export of small reactors and creating worry for the US political, commercial, and national security establishment.

Lagging Nuclear Reactor Technology and Scaling Challenges

Even if the US data center boom were to play out as planned, there are questions about when and whether new US nuclear power will be ready to power it. 

So far, the hyperscalers have modestly invested in small modular reactors (SMRs), but they are unlikely to be available in time for a near-term data center boom. If the buildout is over by the early 2030s, most SMRs will still be on the sidelines.

As a hedge, these companies have banked on the resurgence of mothballed nuclear power plants like Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and Palisades in Michigan. Both of those projects are estimated to deliver new power before the end of this decade for a combined 1.6 GW. What the hyperscalers have not done is back construction of new large reactors despite the fact that a single Westinghouse AP-100 can provide over one GW of power. 

The US government wants 10 new AP-1000s under construction by 2030, but its $80 billion strategic partnership with Westinghouse and its commitment to provide $17.5 billion in loans for long lead items haven’t attracted the necessary additional investment and commitment required from the private sector. 

The US government wants 10 new AP-1000s under construction by 2030, but its $80 billion strategic partnership with Westinghouse and its commitment to provide $17.5 billion in loans for long lead items haven’t attracted the necessary additional investment and commitment required from the private sector. 

This reticence reflects a cost-overrun risk aversion from domestic electric utilities and Wall Street. In response, the administration is repurposing federal lands to create data center-nuclear power campuses. And it has turned to allies such as South Korea and Japan to jumpstart the process with foreign cash derived from bilateral trade and tariff deals. 

But that avenue also doesn’t seem to be working. The Trump administration has been frustrated with the lack of progress on the nuclear energy component of the $350 billion South Korean commitment to invest in the United States, and with Japan, it has found that its involvement in a $40 billion nuclear power project is running aground over nuclear liability concerns.

With less than 30 months left in Trump’s term, and the prospect of a hostile House of Representatives sucking the air out of his agenda, there is an urgency in rethinking the Trump administration’s nuclear deployment policy. The dependence on a rapidly evolving AI and data center market leaves questions about whether the country will achieve its long-term core nuclear deployment objectives. And over-relying on a boost from the micro reactor miracle offers meager dividends when deployment is paramount.

About the Author: Kenneth Luongo

Kenneth N. Luongo is a recognized innovator, entrepreneur, and leader in global nuclear energy and transnational security policy. He is the president and founder of the Partnership for Global Security (PGS). He has been a TEDx presenter, written over 100 articles, including in The New York Times and Foreign Affairs, and engaged extensively with global media, governments, and audiences around the world on nuclear energy and transnational security challenges and responses. He was formerly a senior advisor to the secretary of energy and a professional staff member on Capitol Hill.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, USA | Leave a comment

The big catch with small modular nuclear reactors

Those advantages are also shared by renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines — without the risks that come with nuclear power. 

Tim Schauenberg, 08/05/2026August 5, 2026 https://www.dw.com/en/small-reactors-big-promises-what-the-nuclear-trend-can-really-deliver/a-77491854

Mini nuclear reactors are seen as a flexible energy source. Their promise: abundant energy, cheap, clean and climate-friendly with lower water use. But do the numbers add up? We look at what’s behind the SMR hype.

Many politicians and tech companies are now pushing to build new nuclear power plants to meet the world’s rapidly growing energy demands. Small reactors — known as Small Modular Reactors, or SMRs — are gaining momentum.

They could be built in less time and come online faster than conventional nuclear power plants. Originally developed to power submarines and aircraft carriers, SMRs largely work the same way as larger reactors.

They contain a nuclear reactor fueled by uranium, which releases enormous amounts of heat through nuclear fission. That heat turns water into steam, and the steam pressure drives turbines that generate electricity.

Companies and startups are working on a wide variety of SMR designs and concepts, but the underlying principle is similar across all of them.

One advantage over conventional nuclear stations is that mini reactors require a maximum of two hectares (around five acres) of land — roughly the size of two soccer fields. By comparison, conventional plants require up to 280 soccer fields, according to the industry. 

Why use a modular design for mini nuclear plants? 

What makes SMRs particularly attractive is their modular construction. Individual components can be mass-produced as prefabricated modules and pre-assembled off-site — much like a prefab house that simply needs to be put together once it arrives at its location.

Manufacturers promise an extremely short construction time of between one and a half to six years. Large reactors in the US can take anywhere from seven to 10 years to build.

Proponents also argue that modular units could deliver low-emission power to remote regions, where grid infrastructure is often not developed enough to handle the enormous energy output of a large conventional plant. 

Those advantages are also shared by renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines — without the risks that come with nuclear power. 

Why less radiation can mean greater risk 

The output of mini nuclear reactors is significantly lower than that of conventional nuclear power plants. Depending on the design, SMRs can deliver between 10 and around 200 megawatts of power, while a conventional plant generates between 1,000 and 1,600 MW.

To produce the same amount of energy as the roughly 400 high-capacity reactors currently operating worldwide, tens of thousands of small reactors would need to be built.

SMRs could offer some safety advantages: they contain less radioactive material than large reactors and would be distributed across multiple sites. This means that an accident or military strike resulting in a meltdown would not be as catastrophic as a worst-case scenario at a large reactor. Nevertheless, the consequences of an SMR accident could still be severe.

Germany’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection points out that despite lower radiation levels per reactor, the overall risk posed by mini reactors could be many times higher. Replacing the output of existing nuclear plants with large numbers of smaller ones would require an enormous number of reactors worldwide — and that increases the likelihood that at least one of them will eventually suffer a serious incident.

Nuclear accidents and radiation leaks are extremely rare — but the consequences can be catastrophic. The last major nuclear accident occurred in 2011 at the Fukushima power plant in Japan, following a tsunami. Parts of the region have been contaminated for generations to come, and nearly 170,000 people were forced to flee their homes. 

Extreme efficiency and the dream of radioactive recycling 

Part of the hype around some new mini reactors rests on the hope of extracting significantly more energy from the same amount of uranium. Some SMR models — known as “fast reactors” — could theoretically yield 60 to 70 times more energy from uranium than conventional technology, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But the technology is still in the early stages of development and has so far played only a limited role in IAEA projections. In practice, it has barely been proven in SMRs at all. Only two SMR facilities are currently in operation worldwide — one in China and one in Russia.

Work is also underway on recycling SMR fuel rods, but that process remains largely untested. Most SMR projects continue to rely on the same conventional technology used in traditional reactors.

And the problem of radioactive waste remains unsolved — for both conventional and fast reactors. The risks this poses are already visible: at the Asse facility in Lower Saxony, Germany, a temporary storage site built in the 1970s, hundreds of barrels of intermediate-level radioactive waste are now rusting and beginning to leak. Germany has yet to establish a permanent disposal site.

In fact, no permanent repository for spent fuel or highly radioactive reactor waste is currently in operation anywhere in the world. After 20 years of construction, the Onkalo facility in Finland is set to become the first when it opens in 2026. 

Another problem for nuclear power is growing water scarcity. Recent heat and drought have already forced European nations to curb nuclear output due to for cooling due to low river levels.

Because SMRs are mainly just smaller, simplified versions conventional reactors, they still use water to run and for cooling. While individual units use less water than traditional plants, clustering units could increase overall use, warn experts. Researchers are investigating the use of alternative coolants like molten salts and helium gas for newer designs.

When would SMRs make a climate impact — and at what cost? 

Enthusiasm for small reactors runs high in the nuclear community. But what may look promising at first glance is, in many respects, difficult or impossible to back up with solid evidence.

Calculating the costs of a technology still in development is no easy task. Nevertheless, the German Institute for Economic Research estimates that electricity from new mini nuclear plants — even accounting for economies of scale, including construction and manufacturing — will cost at least twice as much per megawatt-hour as the already very affordable electricity generated by solar or wind power. In a worst-case scenario, the cost could be nearly eight times higher.

Adding up all the announcements, plans and strategies of major nations, a few hundred SMRs could come online in China, the US, Europe and India by 2050. But according to Germany’s Federal Office for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection, citing figures from the nuclear industry, production would only become economically viable at a threshold of 3,000 reactors.

The international community has committed to limiting global warmingto well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. Meeting that target requires large parts of the global economy to become climate-neutral by 2050. The EU aims to reach zero emissions by then; Germany is even targeting net negative CO2 emissions by 2050.

That means climate-friendly nuclear technology would arrive too late to meaningfully limit global warming — and its advantages would be significantly diminished as a result.

What would remain: the radiation risk, and the question of what to do with the radioactive waste. 

August 16, 2026 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

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