small modular reactors

  • Austrian Start-Up Pitches Container-Sized Thorium Reactor, With Storage Coming First

    Emerald Horizon plans to sell a hybrid battery and molten-salt storage system now and add an accelerator-driven thorium generator later. The generator remains at an early stage of development. Austria decided against nuclear power in the late 1970s and has not revisited the question since, according to Mario Müller, vice president of research and development […]

  • AEP, X-energy Eye 960-MW Nuclear Plant at Retired Indiana Coal Site, Backed by Amazon

    American Electric Power (AEP) and X-energy have agreed to evaluate a 960-MW small modular reactor (SMR) project in Indiana, backed by Amazon development funding and a proposed long-term power purchase agreement designed to protect existing utility customers from project costs. The 12-reactor project would be the second deployment under Amazon and X-energy’s collaboration to develop […]

  • Redesigning Steam Turbines for the SMR Era

    Small modular reactors (SMRs) borrow steam turbine engineering from both coal-fired and nuclear plants, but the resulting “wet steam” problem, with exhaust moisture topping 15%, demands a fresh set of

  • Purdue Nuclear Reactor Test Demonstrates Remote, Automated Power Control

    Engineers at Purdue University have, for the first time in the U.S., adjusted a nuclear reactor’s power experimentally, remotely and automatically in real time—a demonstration they say offers an early

  • Studsvik Selects GE Vernova Hitachi, Samsung C&T for 1.2-GW Swedish BWRX-300 Project

    Following a competitive evaluation, Swedish nuclear technology company Studsvik AB has selected GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Samsung C&T as strategic collaborators for a proposed four-unit BWRX-300 project totaling about 1,200 MWe. The project is planned for either Studsvik’s licensed nuclear site in Nyköping or Målma in Valdemarsvik, and the first unit is expected […]

  • POWER Digest [September 2026]

    Australia Moves to Make Data Centers Bring Power. The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has urged energy ministers to require large data centers connecting to the National Electricity Market to bring

  • Will Siting Keep SMRs From Reaching Critical Mass?

    Demand for electricity—particularly for large-load users like data centers—is increasing, raising the question of how best to meet the new demand.

  • Aalo, Crusoe Plan 2027 INL Demonstration Pairing Nuclear Power and AI Data Center Load

    Advanced nuclear firm Aalo Atomics has formed a strategic partnership with energy-first AI infrastructure company Crusoe to develop a nuclear-powered “AI Factory” data center in a project that will combine Aalo’s advanced reactor development program at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with Crusoe’s modular AI data center platform. The companies said on July 30 that under […]

  • Holtec Targets 2036 for 1.36-GW SMR-300 Project at Oyster Creek

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the License Termination Plan (LTP) for the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey, a regulatory milestone that clears the final phase of decommissioning and sets the stage for Holtec International to pursue construction of four SMR-300 small modular reactor units at the Lacey Township, New Jersey, […]

  • The New Power Build Cycle for AI Data Centers

    AI-driven load growth is putting significant strain on the grid, intensifying pressure on utilities and developers to secure firm capacity and meet increasingly compressed delivery timelines. While tools such as transmission optimization can deliver incremental gains, they do not address the core issue: the pace of AI data center expansion is forcing a shift from […]

  • Blue Energy, GE Vernova Advance ‘Gas Bridge’ Model to Unlock Nuclear Finance

    At a recent energy conference, power sector stakeholders agreed the looming fleet of hyperscale data centers will require vast amounts of clean, firm capacity. But while nuclear looks like the most plausible

  • POWER Digest [July 2026]

    X-energy Advances 6-GW Nuclear Partnership With UK’s Centrica. Advanced nuclear reactor developer X-energy on June 2 said it submitted an application for the UK’s Generic Design Assessment (GDA)—the

  • Elementl Power Developing Ohio SMR Project with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy

    An independent developer of utility-scale nuclear power projects said it has an agreement with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy for a nuclear power plant utilizing small modular reactors (SMRs). Elementl Power on June 18 said the facility, sited along the Ohio River about 100 miles southeast of Columbus, has a planned capacity of as much as 1.5 GW.

  • In a First for Advanced Nuclear: Siemens Energy Turbine Package Advances for Oklo’s Aurora-INL

    The steam turbine and generator package for Oklo’s first Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory (INL)—a pioneering application of a commercially established industrial turbine platform at the heart of a first-of-a-kind advanced reactor’s conventional island—is in active production at Siemens Energy’s facilities in Görlitz and Erfurt, Germany. In details provided to POWER, both companies confirmed the […]

  • Blykalla, Studsvik File for Up to 1.7 GW of New Swedish Nuclear Capacity as Government Proposes $3.7B Capital Commitment to Ringhals SMR Project

    Sweden’s nuclear reversal marked three major developments this past week, as advanced modular reactor developer Blykalla and long-established nuclear services firm Studsvik filed separate applications for up to 1.7 GW of new reactors at two sites, while the government formalized an unprecedented financial commitment to another flagship project. The filings, among the first in Sweden’s […]

  • NRC Clears Long Mott’s Environmental Review on a Faster Path—Another Milestone for Commercial Advanced Nuclear

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its environmental assessment (EA) of the proposed 320-MW Long Mott Generating Station at Dow’s Seadrift site in Texas, issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the four-reactor X-energy project. According to X-energy, the NRC completed the environmental review in under a year, marking the first time […]

  • State of the Nuclear Industry 2026: Korsnick Says the Real Test Is Now Scale

    Within a single week last month, Kairos Power broke ground on its Hermes 2 reactor in Tennessee, and days later TerraPower and Bechtel began construction on the Natrium reactor in Wyoming. Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), told industry leaders in Washington, D.C., at the Nuclear Energy Policy Forum on […]

  • The Many Shapes of Nuclear Power’s Revival

    After decades of stagnation, nuclear power is firmly back in the energy discussion. Surging electricity demand, hyperscale data centers hunting for firm round-the-clock power, and growing pressure to decarbonize industrial heat have converged to revive interest in both new reactor construction and lifetime extensions of the existing fleet. The resurgence is broader than a single […]

  • Exclusive: Texas Opens $350M Advanced Nuclear Grant Programs to Spur Reactor Buildout, Supply Chain

    The State of Texas has opened applications for $350 million in advanced nuclear grants through the Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund (TANDF), making the nation’s largest state‑level nuclear package competitive for the first time across two programs aimed at reactor construction and supply chain development. In an exclusive interview with POWER, Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy […]

  • The Critical Role of Coatings in SMR Design

    Electricity demand for data centers worldwide is projected to double by 2030. As a result, developers are looking at small modular reactors (SMRs) to add low‑carbon power generation capacity.

  • Building Now For What Comes Later: How Nuclear Fits Into the Grid’s Next Decade

    Ten years ago, utilities could plan for new 100-megawatt (MW) load requests. That size of energy load fit inside existing forecasts: it could be absorbed, modeled and planned around. Today, load requests have increased to one, two even three gigawatts (GW) at a time. This results in utilities fielding individual load requests that rival full […]

  • China’s Advanced Nuclear Efforts Are Pushing Frontiers

    While the bulk of focus on advanced nuclear technology has honed in tightly on the U.S., from enrichment and conversion to advanced fuels, reprocessing strategies, and fast-spectrum systems, several other

  • Beyond Reactors: The Full Fuel Cycle Investment Needed for a Nuclear Future

    A resurgent nuclear industry cannot succeed unless the U.S. invests in the entire nuclear fuel cycle—from uranium mining to long‑term waste storage. Without strengthening this industrial backbone, nuclear power’s potential may remain more aspiration than reality.

  • 160 Days to Fission: Nuclear Power’s Sprint to Execution

    Sponsored by:
    TerraPower

    For the first time in decades, a wave of nuclear projects across the U.S. is advancing in parallel—from test reactors to early construction. POWER examines how first movers are navigating execution risk, supply chain constraints, and the race to achieve criticality by 2026. For the first time since the 1970s, multiple nuclear projects are under […]

  • Utah ‘Gigasite’ Data Center Contemplates Solar-Storage Baseload Addition

    Zeo Energy Corp., a Florida-based residential solar installer that acquired struggling concentrated solar thermal developer Heliogen Inc. six months ago, has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Creekstone Energy to study the development of 280 MW of generation for a multi-gigawatt data center campus under construction in Millard County, Utah. Under the Feb. […]

  • NRC Launches Major Reorganization as Licensing Deadlines and Reform Workload Intensify

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency responsible for licensing and oversight of civilian nuclear facilities, on Feb. 4 said it would launch a sweeping organizational restructure intended to consolidate decision-making authority, integrate licensing and inspection teams, and align the agency with presidential directives for accelerated nuclear technology deployment. The reorganization will create […]

  • Meta Locks In Up to 6.6 GW of Nuclear Power Through Deals with Vistra, Oklo, and TerraPower

    In-Depth: Meta’s suite of three landmark agreements is poised to provide the financial certainty to extend aging plants, accelerate first-of-a-kind advanced reactor deployments, and relieve PJM’s tightening capacity constraints while establishing the hyperscaler as an anchor customer for a 6.6-GW corporate-backed nuclear fleet. In a stunning move that reinforces Big Tech’s growing role in underwriting […]

  • POWER Digest [January 2026]

    Vattenfall, Industrikraft Advance SMR Program at Ringhals in High-Stakes Deal. Swedish state utility Vattenfall and industrial consortium Industrikraft i Sverige AB signed an agreement, announced on Nov. 10

  • X-energy, Doosan Lock In 16-Unit Xe-100 Component Reservation as Doosan Commits to New SMR Factory

    Small modular reactor (SMR) developer X-energy has secured a binding reservation agreement with South Korean power-generation equipment giant Doosan Enerbility to manufacture main power system steel components for 16 Xe-100 SMRs. As part of the decisive move to industrialize the supply chain for advanced nuclear energy, Doosan has also committed to building a new dedicated SMR […]

  • INL Taps AWS, GE Vernova, Oil Majors for First MARVEL Microreactor Experiments

    Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has selected the five commercial teams that will potentially demonstrate advanced applications—including data center integration—at its much-watched Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) platform, an 85-kWth/20-kWe liquid-metal-cooled test bed currently under construction at the lab. The initial selections, unveiled on Dec. 4, mark the “first potential end users for MARVEL,” […]