The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released the first portion of a two-part construction permit application submitted by SMR, LLC, a subsidiary of Holtec International, for the proposed Pioneer plant. The dual-unit SMR-300 facility would be co-located with the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert, Michigan. The commission anticipates that the second part of the application will arrive by mid-2027.
The filing adds to a small-modular reactor licensing pipeline that has begun producing decisions. NuScale remains the only small modular design holding full NRC design approval, with its 50 megawatt electric module certified in January 2023 and the uprated 77 megawatt electric US460 receiving Standard Design Approval in May 2025.
TerraPower's Natrium project sits furthest along among new-build applications. The NRC completed its environmental review in October 2025 and issued the final safety evaluation in December 2025 for the 345 megawatt electric demonstration plant at Kemmerer, Wyoming, with a permit decision expected during the first half of 2026.
Kairos Power holds a construction permit for its Hermes test reactor at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. X-energy's Xe-100 and Oklo's Aurora designs remain at various stages of NRC review or pre-application engagement. The Department of Energy approved the final safety analysis for Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor on July 1, 2026.
Industry timelines place the first wave of operating U.S. small modular reactors in the 2029 to 2032 window, with construction permits and supply chain readiness as the principal variables.
Source: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - https://www.nrc.gov/sites/default/files/cdn/doc-collection-news/2026/26-008.pdf