U.S. developers have moved to the front of the global race to commercialize small modular and advanced reactors, shifting from paper designs to permits and construction during 2026. TerraPower broke ground on the first U.S. advanced reactor at Kemmerer, Wyoming, while Kairos Power holds the first NRC construction permit issued for an advanced reactor, two milestones that mark the transition from licensing to building.
The regulatory picture favors the domestic field. NuScale Power remains the only company with full NRC design certification, and Oklo stands as the largest pure-play advanced reactor developer by market value. Together the group represents a concentration of licensed and near-licensed designs that outpaces developers in other countries.
Deployment deals are scaling up. NuScale disclosed a partnership with ENTRA1 Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority for a 6-gigawatt program, one of the largest reactor commitments announced anywhere. Federal awards under the Generation III Plus Small Modular Reactor program are backing a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 at TVA in Tennessee and a Holtec SMR-300 in Michigan, adding utility partners to the technology developers.
Demand from data centers is accelerating the timelines. Technology companies seeking firm, carbon-free power for artificial intelligence workloads have signed direct agreements with reactor developers, giving projects committed buyers before construction finishes. Developers still must clear the fuel supply hurdle, since most advanced designs depend on high-assay low-enriched uranium that the United States is only beginning to produce at scale.
Source: Energy News Beat - https://energynewsbeat.co/nuclear/the-u-s-is-leading-smr-projects-globally/