#Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

[jellysshitpoems]

What’s your opinion on small nuclear reactors/SMRs? I’ve heard a lot about them recently (including some advertisements actually) but I’m not sure how applicable they would be outside of their current uses, like powering naval ships/icebreakers and research stations. I’ve read that they could be used to power off-grid native communities; is that something that gets discussed a lot in Canada?

As always, I hope you’re doing alright!

You just managed to touch on two things rarely talked about in Canada, Indigenous communities that are in need of help, and SMRs 😅

Small modular reactors aren’t something Im particularly well versed in, I wasn’t even aware they were used on/considering using them on large ships, but it makes sense! I heard that they could be used to power things like natural disaster clean up, due to their portability and what not, but using them to power remote communities (Indigenous or not) Is a great idea!

Unfortunately though, Canada doesn’t exactly have the greatest history with helping said communities. In fact theres a lot (and I mean a fucking LOT, over 600) of reserves that don’t have access to even just clean drinking water. Hell I did a whole project on a community that has had mercury poisoning for decades! And their levels are still so high it can affect fetal development! So I doubt any reservations or towns are getting billion dollar SMRs- Thanks Canadian government!!!

I feel like I always find a way to derail these asks. Oops.

Anywaysss, from what Ive heard SMRs are super cool, I just dont know a lot! My brain has bigger fish to fry when it comes to my hyper fixation if that makes sense lmao, I like big reactors and huge facilities. Organization and protocols and precautions kick my adhd into gear, yayy systems 😁😁

[legarski]

Hybrid Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): Pioneering the Future of Energy and Connectivity

SolveForce is proud to announce the release of a groundbreaking new book, “Hybrid Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): From Design to Future Technologies,” co-authored by Ronald Joseph Legarski, Jr., President & CEO of SolveForce and Co-Founder of Adaptive Energy Systems. This publication stands at the convergence of next-generation nuclear energy, telecommunications infrastructure, and digital…

[global-research-report]

Decentralized Power, Central to Progress: The Small Modular Reactor Revolution

Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Market Growth & Trends

The global small modular reactor (SMR) market was valued at USD 6.14 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3% from 2024 to 2030. This growth is fueled by the increasing demand for flexible, cost-efficient, and low-carbon energy solutions, especially as global economies transition toward more sustainable energy systems.

SMRs are innovatively designed nuclear reactors that are factory-built, modular, and transportable, offering considerable advantages over traditional large-scale nuclear plants. These advantages include reduced construction times and costs, as well as greater deployment flexibility, especially in remote locations or smaller electrical grids where conventional reactors are impractical.

In addition to their adaptability, SMRs incorporate advanced passive safety features, enhancing operational safety and reducing the risks traditionally associated with nuclear energy. Their ability to complement renewable energy sources by providing stable baseload power makes them a critical asset in decarbonizing the energy sector while maintaining grid stability.

However, despite these benefits, several challenges hinder market expansion. The high upfront capital costs associated with developing and deploying SMRs can deter investors when compared with alternative energy technologies such as solar, wind, or natural gas. Moreover, the complex and rigorous regulatory environment for nuclear technology can cause significant delays and increase compliance costs, adding further uncertainty for project developers. Public apprehensions around nuclear safety and radioactive waste management also remain significant barriers to widespread acceptance and deployment.

Market Strategies and Industry Dynamics

To overcome these barriers and gain a competitive edge, key industry players are engaging in:

Strategic partnerships and public-private collaborations aimed at securing funding, accelerating approvals, and increasing public trust.

A strong focus on modularity and scalability, which allows for easier site integration, phased capacity expansions, and cost control.

Emphasis on enhanced safety and reliability, leveraging state-of-the-art design features to reduce operational risks and improve system resilience.

These strategies are collectively shaping the roadmap for broader adoption and long-term viability of SMRs in the global energy mix.

Get a preview of the latest developments in the Small Modular Reactor Market? Download your FREE sample PDF copy today and explore key data and trends

 

Global Small Modular Reactor Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the small modular reactor market on the basis of product type, application, and region: 

Product Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Heavy Water Reactors

Light Water Reactors

High-temperature Reactors

Others

Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Power Generation

Desalination

Industrial

Hydrogen Production

Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

North America

US

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Germany

UK

France

Italy

Spain

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Central & South America

Brazil

Argentina

Middle East & Africa

Key Small Modular Reactor Companies

The small modular reactor market is led by several prominent companies, including:

Fluor Corporation – A U.S.-based engineering and construction firm that provides nuclear and energy solutions across diverse sectors including infrastructure, energy transition, and technology through three key business segments: Energy Solutions, Urban Solutions, and Mission Solutions.

Rolls-Royce plc – A global manufacturer specializing in propulsion and power systems. Rolls-Royce is advancing its role in the SMR space through innovation in civil nuclear applications

and is a key player in the UK’s SMR program.

Other major companies shaping the industry include:

Brookfield Asset Management

Moltex Energy

General Electric Company

ULTRA SAFE NUCLEAR

X Energy LLC

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

Terrestrial Energy Inc.

General Atomics

These players collectively represent a significant share of the market and are actively influencing SMR design, commercialization, and policy frameworks.

Order a free sample PDF of the Market Intelligence Study, published by Grand View Research.

[heatalk]

全球用電需求激增下的新興投資方向：小型核電技術的崛起

[閱讀全文: https://is.gd/3oWzcq]

人類對能源的需求正以前所未有的速度增長。數據中心、人工智能運算、電動車普及，以及工業自動化等領域的快速擴張，使得電力供應成為各國經濟發展的關鍵瓶頸。

[lancely-blog]

Building Nuclear Power Plants in Hurricane Alley: Think Again?

All text copyrighted ©️ 2025 by Lancer Gareth Bailey

Dow Industries recently unveiled plans to construct four nuclear power plants along the Texas Gulf Coast—an area famously nicknamed “Hurricane Alley.” While the company promises clean, reliable energy, the proposal raises critical safety concerns that can’t be ignored.

Texas’ coastline is no stranger to nature’s fury. This region faces a trifecta of extreme weather threats: hurricanes, flooding, and increasingly unpredictable power grid behavior. In recent years, we’ve seen firsthand how these forces can cripple infrastructure. Now, imagine those same forces converging on a nuclear facility.

When hurricanes make landfall, they bring not just high winds, but massive storm surges and torrential rains. These can knock out power, flood backup generators, destroy infrastructure, and limit access for emergency crews. Add to that the Texas heat, which can stress cooling systems, and winter storms like the 2021 blackout event that left much of the state in the dark for days. Every one of these hazards could pose serious challenges to a nuclear plant’s ability to maintain safe operations—not just during normal use, but especially during shutdown and emergency conditions.

The risks aren’t hypothetical.

During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey—though already offline—issued an emergency alert as floodwaters rose dangerously close to disabling its spent fuel pool cooling systems. Just a few more feet, and it might’ve mirrored the disaster that unfolded in Japan the year before.

Fukushima Daiichi, one of the most technologically advanced nuclear plants in the world, was also shut down ahead of the 2011 tsunami. That didn’t stop catastrophe. Flooding knocked out the backup generators that powered its cooling systems, leading to a partial meltdown, hydrogen explosions, and widespread radioactive contamination. The world learned that even a powered-down plant can become a disaster zone if cooling is lost.

Which brings us to a common misconception: Can’t we just shut down a plant before a storm hits? Yes—and operators often do. But turning off the reactor doesn’t mean the danger ends. Even in shutdown, nuclear fuel continues to generate heat for days or weeks. That heat must be actively managed and cooled—usually with pumps that require power. If floodwaters knock out the electrical systems or disable generators, it could lead to a cascade of failures. The same applies to spent fuel pools, which house older but still highly radioactive fuel rods. If those pools overheat, they can boil off coolant water, ignite fuel rods, and release radiation.

So while Dow Industries may tout their plan as safe and forward-thinking, the public deserves more than assurances. We need absolute clarity on how these facilities will be hardened against storm surges, flooding, wind damage, prolonged grid outages, and cooling system failures. We need to know whether emergency responders can access these sites during a hurricane. And we need to ask why—after all we’ve learned—any company would choose to build nuclear reactors in one of the most weather-vulnerable regions in the country.

Clean energy is critical. But it cannot come at the cost of basic common sense. If we ignore the lessons of the past, we may end up repeating them—with consequences too great to bear.

⸻

Counterarguments:

1. Proximity to Industrial Demand

The Texas Gulf Coast is home to some of the largest petrochemical and manufacturing complexes in the world, including Dow’s own operations in Freeport and along the coast. These facilities require massive, stable, around-the-clock electricity, far beyond what wind or solar can reliably deliver on their own.

• Nuclear energy offers baseload power—it runs continuously and isn’t subject to the intermittency of renewables.

• Locating nuclear plants close to demand centers reduces transmission losses and costs, and increases grid stability.

2. Nuclear is a Clean Energy Source

In an era of accelerating climate change, even traditionally carbon-heavy industries are under pressure to decarbonize.

• Nuclear power produces zero carbon emissions at the point of generation, making it a crucial tool in the fight against climate change.

• Texas already leads in wind and solar, but pairing those with reliable nuclear could help phase out coal and natural gas faster.

3. Advanced Reactor Designs Are Safer

Since the Fukushima disaster, U.S. plants have undergone significant upgrades, including the implementation of FLEX strategies, redundant safety systems, and passive self-shutdown capabilities that don’t rely on electric pumps or operator intervention to stay safe in emergencies. Newer reactors, especially the small modular reactors (SMRs) being proposed by Dow, are designed to be even more resilient.

• These designs can automatically cool themselves, even if power is lost.

• New containment structures are engineered to withstand flooding, high winds, and seismic events.

4. Economic Development

The project would likely bring thousands of high-paying construction and engineering jobs, as well as long-term skilled employment for plant operators, security, and maintenance crews.

• It could transform coastal communities economically, providing tax revenue and infrastructure investment.

• It may also attract other industries looking for stable, low-carbon energy sources.

5. Texas is No Stranger to Big Infrastructure

Supporters might argue that if any state has the resources, space, and technical capability to build resilient nuclear facilities in a challenging environment, it’s Texas. They may point to the state’s experience with large-scale oil & gas infrastructure and its growing leadership in energy innovation.

Additionally, there is already precedent for safe nuclear energy along the Texas coast.

The South Texas Project (STP), located near Bay City, has operated two nuclear reactors since the 1980s without a single severe accident, radiation leak, or environmental contamination. Even when tested by nearby Category 4 Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the plant remained stable and fully operational. While there have been a few minor incidents—like a transformer failure and a switchyard fire in 2024—none compromised safety systems or public health.

⸻

But… Asterisks Everywhere

Each of these arguments comes with caveats:

• Modern reactor designs are promising, but not yet widely deployed or tested under real-world hurricane stress. No current reactors have been tested against a direct hit by a category 4 or 5 hurricane. Hurricanes are getting stronger due to climate change. A direct hit from a Category 4 or 5 storm—even if not catastrophic—could still force expensive shutdowns, damage infrastructure, and disrupt energy delivery.

• Clean energy goals are crucial—but placing critical infrastructure in high-risk zones may undermine those goals in the long term.

• Economic development is good—but who bears the risk if something goes wrong? Likely the surrounding communities.

⸻

Side Note: Is Nuclear Power Truly “Clean” Energy?

While nuclear power generation itself emits no carbon dioxide, labeling it as “clean” overlooks the significant challenge of radioactive waste management. High-level radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel, remains hazardous for thousands to hundreds of thousands of years, depending on its isotopic composition. For instance, plutonium-239 has a half-life of about 24,000 years, meaning it takes that long for half of its radioactivity to decay. Managing such long-lived waste necessitates secure containment strategies to prevent environmental contamination and protect human health over extensive periods.

Currently, most high-level waste is stored on-site at nuclear facilities, awaiting the development of permanent disposal solutions like deep geological repositories. The long-term stewardship required for this waste poses ethical and logistical challenges, as it demands reliable containment and monitoring systems that can function effectively for millennia.

Therefore, while nuclear energy contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, its classification as “clean” must be weighed against the enduring responsibility of managing its radioactive byproducts.

⸻

Note: This editorial is based on publicly available information as of April 2025. For the most current developments regarding Dow Industries’ nuclear projects, please refer to official announcements and regulatory filings.

[medicaldevicesindustrynews]

U.S. Nuclear Power Market: Growth Drivers, Challenges, and Future Outlook

The U.S. nuclear power market is experiencing significant growth, driven by increasing electricity demand, advancements in reactor technologies, and a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2024, the market was valued at approximately USD 13.3 billion and is projected to reach USD 19.6 billion by 2032, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1% from 2025 to 2032. Rising…

[neosciencehub]

Future of Energy: India's Nuclear Ambitions

Future of Energy: India's Nuclear Ambitions @neosciencehub #Energy #India #NuclearAmbitions #SmallModularReactors(SMRs) #BudgetFY25

India is poised to become a key player in the global energy landscape with its ambitious goal of developing 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047. This commitment reflects not only a response to the country’s growing energy demands but also aligns with the global transition towards cleaner, more sustainable energy sources. Central to this vision is the implementation of strategic initiatives,…

[wayti-blog]

"MUMBAI: State-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd is in preliminary talks with atomic power monopoly to build small nuclear units [Small modular reactors (SMRs)], an early-stage technology seen as a cost-effective alternative to larger plants.

The refiner and fuel retailer is exploring a partnership with state-controlled Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd to use small modular reactors, or SMRs, in its refineries for clean power, Alok Sharma, Indian Oil's director for R&D, said at a conference in New Delhi Wednesday.

As several bigger projects face delays, policymakers are promoting small-scale nuclear technology with a capacity of up to 300 MW, which is quicker to build and easier to adjust to the requirements of the grid. To boost the nascent sector, the government is considering allowing private firms to manage and operate reactors."

article here

[empresa-journal]

Are Small Modular Reactors unprofitable?

Small modular nuclear reactors could be unprofitable. NuScale halted construction on a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) after a partner pulled out. NuScale (NYSE: SMR) and the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) terminated an agreement to build an SMR in Idaho, on 8 November 2023, a press release announces. The termination ends the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) which was building a 77…

[nicolae]

Sam Altman, ChatGPT and Small Modular Reactors

(A light water small modular nuclear reactor. Credit: U.S. Government Accountability Office/Wikimedia Commons) Sam Altman is an entrepreneur, investor, and former president of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that has funded companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, and Stripe. He is also the CEO of OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, a research organization that aims to create artificial intelligence that…

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #20

May 24-31 2024

The EPA awards $900 million to school districts across the country to replace diesel fueled school buses with cleaner alternatives. The money will go to 530 school districts across nearly every state, DC, tribal community, and US territory. The funds will help replace 3,400 buses with cleaner alternatives, 92% of the new buses will be 100% green electric. This adds to the $3 billion the Biden administration has already spent to replace 8,500 school buses across 1,000 school districts in the last 2 years.

For the first time the federal government released guidelines for Voluntary Carbon Markets. Voluntary Carbon Markets are a system by which companies off set their carbon emissions by funding project to fight climate change like investing in wind or solar power. Critics have changed that companies are using them just for PR and their funding often goes to projects that would happen any ways thus not offsetting emissions. The new guidelines seek to insure integrity in the Carbon Markets and make sure they make a meaningful impact. It also pushes companies to address emissions first and use offsets only as a last resort.

The IRS announced it'll take its direct file program nationwide in 2025. In 2024 140,000 tax payers in 12 states used the direct file pilot program and the IRS now plans to bring it to all Americans next tax season. Right now the program is only for simple W-2 returns with no side income but the IRS has plans to expand it to more complex filings in the future. This is one of the many projects at the IRS being funded through President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

The White House announced steps to boost nuclear energy in America. Nuclear power in the single largest green energy source in the country accounting for 19% of America's total energy. Boosting Nuclear energy is a key part of the Biden administration's strategy to reach a carbon free electricity sector by 2035. The administration has invested in bring the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan back on-line, and extending the life of Diablo Canyon in California. In addition the Military will be deploying new small modular nuclear reactors and microreactors to power its installations. The Administration is setting up a task force to help combat the delays and cost overruns that have often derailed new nuclear projects and the Administration is supporting two Gen III+ SMR demonstration projects to highlight the safety and efficiency of the next generation of nuclear power.

The Department of Agriculture announced $824 million in new funding to protect livestock health and combat H5N1. The funding will go toward early detection, vaccine research, and supporting farmers impacted. The USDA is also launching a nation wide Dairy Herd Status Pilot Program, hopefully this program will give us a live look at the health of America's dairy herd and help with early detection. The Biden Administration has reacted quickly and proactively to the early cases of H5N1 to make sure it doesn't spread to the human population and become another pandemic situation.

The White House announced a partnership with 21 states to help supercharge America's aging energy grid. Years of little to no investment in America's Infrastructure has left our energy grid lagging behind the 21st century tech. This partnership aims to squeeze all the energy we can out of our current system while we rush to update and modernize. Last month the administration announced a plan to lay 100,000 miles of new transmission lines over the next five years. The 21 states all with Democratic governors are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The Department of Transportation announced $343 million to update 8 of America's oldest and busiest transportation stations for disability accessibility. These include the MBTA's the Green Line's light-rail B and C branches in Boston,  Cleveland's Blue Line, New Orleans'  St. Charles Streetcar route, and projects in San Francisco and New York City and other locations

The Department of interior announced two projects for water in Western states. $179 million for drought resilience projects in California and Utah and $242 million for expanding water access in California, Colorado and Washington. The projects should help support drinking water for 6.4 million people every year.

HUD announced $150 million for affordable housing for tribal communities. This adds to the over $1 billion dollars for tribal housing announced earlier in the month. Neil Whitegull of the Ho-Chunk Nation said at the announcement "I know a lot of times as Native Americans we've been here and we've seen people that have said, ‘Oh yeah, we'd like to help Indians.’ And they take a picture and they go away. We never see it, But there's been a commitment here, with the increase in funding, grants, and this administration that is bringing their folks out. And there's a real commitment, I think, to Native American tribes that we've never seen before."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged $135 million to help Moldavia. Since the outbreak of Russia's war against neighboring Ukraine the US has given $774 million in aid to tiny Moldavia. Moldavia has long been dependent on Russian energy but thanks to US investment in the countries energy security Moldavia is breaking away from Russia and moving forward with EU membership.

The US and Guatemala launched the "Youth With Purpose” initiative. The initiative will be run through the Central America Service Corps, launched in 2022 by Vice President Harris the CASC is part of the Biden Administration's efforts to improve life in Central America. The Youth With Purpose program will train 25,000 young Guatemalans and connect with with service projects throughout the country.

Bonus: Today, May 31st 2024, is the last day of the Affordable Connectivity Program. The program helped 23 million Americans connect to the internet while saving them $30 to $75 dollars every month. Despite repeated calls from President Biden Republicans in Congress have refused to act to renew the program. The White House has worked with private companies to get them to agree to extend the savings to the end of 2024. The Biden Administration has invested $90 Billion high-speed internet investments. Such as $42.45 billion for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment, $1 billion for the The Middle Mile program laying 12,000 miles of regional fiber networks, and distributed nearly 30,000 connected devices to students and communities, including more than 3,600 through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Alberta and Saskatchewan will collaborate on nuclear power generation as part of a memorandum of understanding unveiled Thursday morning.

Dustin Duncan, Saskatchewan's minister responsible for SaskPower, was joined by Nathan Neudorf, Alberta's minister for affordability and utilities, at a news conference in Regina.

The agreement between the two Prairie provinces will see them share information around workforce development, nuclear supply chain, the security of supply of nuclear fuels, and the development and regulation of nuclear reactor technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs). 

"Saskatchewan has a long-standing co-operative relationship with Alberta on energy development, and we share similar challenges and opportunities related to decarbonization," said Duncan in a news release. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @abpoli

[mariacallous]

American nuclear is in 25-year-old Isaiah Taylor’s blood: his great-grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project. In 2023, Taylor, who dropped out of high school to work in tech, started his own nuclear company, Valar Atomics. It’s currently developing a small test reactor, named after Taylor’s great-grandfather. But the company says that overly onerous regulations imposed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the country’s main regulatory body for nuclear reactors, has forced Valar Atomics to develop its test reactor overseas.

In early April, Valar Atomics, in addition to another nuclear startup, Deep Fission, as well as the states of Florida, Louisiana, and Arizona’s state legislature, signed onto a lawsuit against the NRC. The lawsuit, originally filed in December by Texas, Utah, and nuclear company Last Energy, blames the NRC for “so restrictively regulat[ing] new nuclear reactor construction that it rarely happens at all.”

The US has historically been the global powerhouse of nuclear energy, yet only three reactors have come online over the past 25 years, all behind schedule and with ballooning budgets. Meanwhile, other countries, like China and South Korea, have raced ahead with construction of reactors of all sizes. Some nuclear advocates say that the US’s regulation system, which imposes cumbersome requirements and ultra-long timelines on projects, is largely to blame for this delay—especially when it comes to developing new designs for smaller reactors—and that some reactors should be taken from the NRC’s purview altogether. But others have concerns about potential attempts to bypass the country’s nuclear regulations for specific designs.

The NRC has long been criticized for its ultra-slow permitting times, inefficient processes, and contentious back-and-forth with nuclear companies. “The regulatory relationship in the US has been described as legalistic and adversarial for nuclear,” says Nick Touran, a licensed nuclear engineer who runs the website What Is Nuclear. “That is kind of uniquely American. In other countries, like France and China, the regulators are more cooperative.”

The lawsuit takes these criticisms one step further, claiming that by regulating smaller reactors, the NRC is misreading a crucial piece of nuclear legislation. In 1954, Congress passed the Atomic Energy Act, which created modern nuclear regulation in the US. That law mandated regulations for nuclear facilities that used nuclear material “in such quantity as to be of significance to the common defense and security” or that use it “in such manner as to affect the health and safety of the public.”

“We would love the NRC to respect the law that was written,” says Taylor, who believes the reactor his company is working on sits outside of that mandate. “What it would do for us is to allow innovation to happen again. Innovation is what drives the American economy.”

“The NRC will address the litigation, as necessary, in its court filings,” agency spokesperson Scott Burnell told WIRED in an email.

While we generally think of nuclear reactors as huge power plants, reactors can be made much smaller: Models known as small modular reactors, or SMRs, usually produce a third of the energy of a larger reactor, while even smaller reactors known as microreactors are designed small enough to be hauled by semitruck. Because of their size, these reactors are inherently less dangerous than their large counterparts. There’s simply not enough power in an SMR for a Three Mile Island–style meltdown.

The lawsuit argues that by mandating a cumbersome licensing process for all types of reactors—including those that are safer because of their size—the NRC is both violating the Atomic Energy Act and stifling progress. A company called NuScale, the only SMR company to get NRC approval for its model, spent $500 million and 2 million hours of labor over several years just to get its design approved. In late 2023 it pulled the plug on a planned power plant in Idaho after customers balked at the projected high price tag for power, which soared from an estimated $58 per megawatt-hour in 2021 to $89 per megawatt-hour in 2023.

The lawsuit comes at a unique time for nuclear power. Public sentiment around nuclear energy is the highest it’s been in 15 years. Dozens of new nuclear startups have cropped up in recent years, each promising to revolutionize the American nuclear industry—and serve power-hungry industries like data centers and oil and gas. Private equity and venture capital invested more than $783 million in nuclear startups in 2024, doing twice the number of deals in the sector as they did in 2023.

The lawsuit “is about getting steel in the ground. This is about getting nuclear on the grid,” says Chris Koopman, the CEO of the Abundance Institute, a nonprofit focused on encouraging the development and deployment of new technology. The Institute, which was founded last year, has no standing in the lawsuit and does not represent any plaintiffs but has served as a “thought partner,” per Koopman, who coauthored an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in January announcing the lawsuit.

Deep Fission, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, seeks to generate electricity using small modular reactors placed a mile underground—a model its CEO, Liz Muller, says is both safer and cheaper than traditional construction. Even though Deep Fission is a party in the lawsuit, the company has also begun pre-licensing its design with the NRC. Muller sees the lawsuit as bringing a new approach to the agency regarding SMRs: helping it to develop “a regulatory sandbox, where we’re allowed to explore approaches to regulations while we’re moving forward at the same time.”

The lawsuit posits that individual states “are more than capable of regulating” smaller reactors. Thirty-nine states are already licensed by the NRC to handle and inspect nuclear material, while Koopman points out that the states involved in the lawsuit have recently passed legislation to speed the construction of nuclear projects in-state. “All of the states involved in the case have already entered into agreement with the NRC, in which the NRC has recognized that they know their stuff,” he says.

Taylor believes allowing states to compete on regulation would help boost safety within the field of small modular reactors. “Innovation is what drives the safety ball down the field, and the only way to do that is to have different regulators with different ideas,” he says. “That’s federalism 101.”

Adam Stein, the director of the Nuclear Energy Innovation program at the Breakthrough Institute, an eco-modernist policy center, sees some serious flaws with this approach. He says that while some states, like Texas, may have the resources and the knowledge to create their own effective regulatory body, other states may struggle. Stein likens a patchwork of different regulations as being akin to car seat laws, where the age of the child required to be in a car seat varies across states, making it tough for a parent to plan a road trip.

“Some states are less consistent in applying safety standards than others,” he says. “Some states would prefer their standards to be stricter than national standards. Some states have reduced safety standards from nationally recommended standards.”

Muller says she understands these concerns. “There is a risk if we get wildly different regulatory processes, that would not be a great result,” she says. “But I think there’s also an opportunity for states to move forward and then for other states to piggyback on what has been developed by the earlier adopter.”

Stein also foresees a possibility for continued red tape, as even with state-level regulation, the NRC would still be forced to review individual reactor designs to see if they were safe enough to pass off for state review. “A developer couldn’t just assert that their design is so safe, that it’s below the line,” he says. “It’s still going to have to go through a review to determine whether the NRC should review it.”

Just because a nuclear reactor can’t cause massive damage to big populations doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fail-safe. The only deadly nuclear accident on US soil occurred at a tiny reactor in Idaho, which killed its three operators in the early 1960s. Designs for small reactors have made leaps and bounds in safety since then—a development Touran says is thanks in part to regulations from the federal government.

“I believe a well-designed small reactor, subject to reasonable nuclear design standards based on years of lessons learned, would be very safe,” says Touran. “I do not believe that this means anyone should be able to go out and build a small reactor with minimal oversight.”

There have been efforts in recent years to speed up the NRC’s permitting process. In 2019, during his first term, President Donald Trump signed the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act; among its many reforms, it mandated that the NRC shift around key licensing processes and create a new process for licensing smaller, more technologically varied reactors. Last year, President Joe Biden signed the ADVANCE Act, which made even more changes to the NRC process; both of these pieces of legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

“At this point, the NRC says pretty willingly that they’re working hard to be more efficient, that they understand they need to be more efficient, that they have been more efficient with recent licensing applications,” says Klein.

For developers like Taylor, this progress is too little, too late. “Do we really want China and Russia to be the global nuclear developers for the world?” he says. “I don’t. I would like the United States to be the nuclear developer of the world.”

Permitting reform alone, especially in the SMR space, may not solve the issue of competing with other world powers. Nuclear energy might be overregulated, but it is also expensive to build, even for smaller reactors, requiring big up-front investments and a large amount of labor. NuScale did lose valuable time and money on a cumbersome regulatory process—but its energy was also competing in price against gas and renewables, which are, on average, cheaper than nuclear power from plants that have been running for decades.

After decades of battling public fear of nuclear plants, nuclear acceptance has reached a pivotal moment. When compared to the massive health toll from fossil fuels, which research shows are responsible for 1 in 5 deaths around the world, nuclear power is exorbitantly safe. But there’s a sense from some advocates that some of the hard-won trust nuclear energy now has from the public—supported by decades of careful regulation—is in danger if the movement becomes too cavalier about safety.

When Valar announced it would join the lawsuit, Taylor published a blog post on the company’s website that claimed that the company’s reactor was so safe that someone could hold the spent fuel in their hands for five minutes and get as much radiation exposure as a CAT scan. Touran questioned this claim, leading Taylor to post the numbers behind the company’s analysis on X. Another nuclear engineer ran his own calculation using these inputs, finding that holding fuel under the conditions provided by Valar would give a “lethal dose” of radiation in 85 milliseconds. (Taylor told WIRED that Valar is working on a “thorough analysis” in response that will be public in a few weeks and that the initial claims around the spent fuel were simply “a thought experiment we did for our own internal illustration purposes” and not part of the lawsuit materials.)

“We’ve operated reactors so well for so long that a whole new breed of advocates and even founders mistakenly believe that they’re fail-safe by default,” says Touran. “The reality is they’re made fail-safe by very careful and well-regulated engineering and quality assurance.”

[darkmaga-returns]

Major U.S. tech companies have pledged to support an initiative to boost nuclear power generation globally, the World Nuclear Association said on Wednesday.

The groups of “large energy users” have backed the goal to at least triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, the association, which facilitated the pledge, said in a March 12 statement.

“This is the first time major businesses beyond the nuclear sector have come together to publicly back an extensive and concerted expansion of nuclear power to meet increasing global energy demand.”

A total of 14 companies signed the pledge, including Meta, Google, and Amazon. The three big tech companies have previously taken steps to adopt nuclear energy to meet their growing power needs, especially for data centers

In October 2024, Amazon announced it had signed contracts with Washington, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to construct small modular reactors (SMRs). Unlike traditional large reactors, SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with a power generation capacity of up to 300 megawatts. […]

[thetechempire]

Google strikes a deal with a nuclear startup to power its AI data centers

🔹 Google is turning to nuclear energy to help power its AI drive. On Monday, the company said it will partner with the startup Kairos Power to build seven small nuclear reactors in the US. The deal targets adding 500 megawatts of nuclear power from the small modular reactors (SMRs) by the decade’s end. The first is expected to be up and running by 2030, with the remainder arriving through 2035.

🔹 It’s the first-ever corporate deal to buy nuclear power from SMRs. Small modular reactors are smaller than existing reactors. Their components are built inside a factory rather than on-site, which can help lower construction costs compared to full-scale plants. Kairos will need the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve design and construction permits for the plans. The startup has already received approval for a demonstration reactor in Tennessee, with an online date targeted for 2027.

🔹 The company already builds test units (without nuclear-fuel components) at a development facility in Albuquerque, NM, where it assesses components, systems and its supply chain. The companies didn’t announce the financial details of the arrangement. Google says the deal’s structure will help to keep costs down and get the energy online sooner. “By procuring electricity from multiple reactors — what experts call an ‘orderbook’ of reactors — we will help accelerate the repeated reactor deployments that are needed to lower costs and bring Kairos Power’s technology to market more quickly,” Michael Terrell, Google’s senior director for energy and climate, wrote in a blog post. “This is an important part of our approach to scale the benefits of advanced technologies to more people and communities, and builds on our previous efforts.”

🔹 The AI boom - and the enormous amount of data center power it requires - has led to several deals between Big Tech companies and the nuclear industry. In September, Microsoft forged an agreement with Constellation Energy to bring a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania back online. In March, Amazon bought a nuclear-powered data center from Talen Energy.