Small Modular Reactors

Akademik Lomonosov began commercial operation in Pevek with two 35 MWe KLT-40S reactors.

NuScale's design became the only SMR certified by the US regulator.

World's first commercial pebble-bed high-temperature gas-cooled SMR.

BWRX-300 construction approved at OPG's Darlington site in Ontario, Canada.

125 MWe ACP100 on Hainan Island, targeting commercial operation in 2026.

After a four-year evaluation of 70+ options, Sweden's Videberg Kraft (Vattenfall + Industrikraft) picked Rolls-Royce SMR over GE Vernova to supply three 470 MWe reactors (~12 TWh/yr) at the Värö Peninsula — Rolls-Royce SMR's first international selection and Sweden's first new nuclear in over 40 years. Detailed planning begins now; the first reactor is targeted for the mid-2030s.

OPG set the ~953-tonne basemat foundation module 35 m below ground for the first of four BWRX-300 units at Darlington — North America's (and the G7's) first SMR build, targeting grid connection by 2030.

First safety concrete was poured at the Jizzakh site near Lake Tuzkan — the first plant built anywhere under an export SMR contract. Rosatom is supplying two RITM-200N reactors (2×55 MWe) alongside two VVER-1000s for a 2.1 GW hybrid plant; first unit targeted for 2029.

Antares' Mark 0 test reactor at Idaho National Laboratory achieved first criticality — a self-sustaining nuclear reaction and the first new US advanced-reactor design to cross the threshold (it is not yet generating power).

Oklo broke ground (22 Sep 2025) on Aurora-INL — its first Aurora Powerhouse, a 75-MWe liquid-metal-cooled, metal-fueled fast reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (building on EBR-II heritage) under DOE's Reactor Pilot Program, with Kiewit as lead constructor.

DOE's Idaho office approved the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for Oklo's Aurora-INL under the Reactor Pilot Program — a staged framework letting advanced reactors build on a federal site under DOE oversight instead of waiting on full NRC licensing. It clears the safety basis for construction (not commercial operation); Oklo pursues NRC licensing separately for commercial units.

The NRC issued a construction permit for TerraPower's Natrium plant (Kemmerer, Wyoming) — the first US commercial advanced-reactor approval in ~a decade and the first non-light-water reactor approval in over 40 years. 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten-salt storage boosting to 500 MW; completion targeted 2030.

Weeks after winning its NRC construction permit, TerraPower started safety-related construction on Kemmerer Unit 1 — on track to be the first utility-scale advanced (non-light-water) nuclear plant built in the US. The 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor (molten-salt storage boosting to 500 MWe) will take ~1,600 workers and is targeted for completion by 2030; a January deal commits up to eight Natrium units to Meta by 2035.

The NRC issued a Finding of No Significant Impact for X-energy's plan to build four 80 MWe Xe-100 reactors at Dow's Seadrift site on the Texas Gulf Coast — the first commercial nuclear project in the NRC's 52-year history cleared through a streamlined environmental assessment rather than a full environmental impact statement. The Amazon-backed developer still faces the separate safety review next.

Kairos broke ground on Hermes 2 in Oak Ridge — the first power-producing Gen IV reactor with an NRC construction permit. The molten-salt-cooled plant will feed up to 50 MW to TVA, powering Google data centers.

After ~6 years, the NRC finalized Part 53 (effective 29 Apr 2026) — a risk-informed, technology-inclusive licensing framework targeting design approvals in 18 months or less at roughly half the cost. A structural unlock for the entire US advanced-reactor field, independent of any single project.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed authorization (25 Jun 2026, at Idaho National Laboratory) for Aalo Atomics to proceed with criticality testing of its Aalo-X critical test reactor under the DOE Reactor Pilot Program (EO 14301) — following DSA approval and an operational readiness review. The signed go-ahead is the milestone; criticality itself was expected within days (July 4 program target). Aalo-X tests the full core for the ~10 MWe Aalo-1 design.

Darlington Unit 1 targeted to complete by the end of 2030.