Development of small modular reactors is advancing across the United States, though the first commercial units remain several years away. The designs, which are built largely in factories and deployed in smaller increments than traditional reactors, have attracted growing interest from utilities and technology companies seeking reliable carbon free power.
NuScale Power remains the furthest along in federal review, holding the only full NRC design certification for its 50 megawatt module and receiving standard design approval in May 2025 for an uprated 77 megawatt version. Kairos Power holds the first NRC construction permit issued for an advanced reactor, while TerraPower has broken ground on its Natrium project at a former coal plant site in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Oklo, the largest pure play SMR company by market value, has its Aurora design in the licensing pipeline.
Fuel supply has emerged as a key constraint. TerraPower's Natrium had targeted 2028 but has faced schedule pressure toward 2030 or later because of scarcity of high assay low enriched uranium, the specialized fuel most advanced designs require. That bottleneck has become a central focus of federal policy efforts to rebuild domestic enrichment capacity.
Industry analysts expect the first wave of new US small modular reactors to reach operation in the 2029 to 2032 timeframe. As of early 2026, no small modular reactor has begun commercial operation in the Western world, underscoring both the promise and the remaining hurdles for the technology.
Source: SMR Intel - https://smrintel.com/smr-nrc-approval-tracker/