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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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