Four SMR units operate worldwide, all in Russia and China, and that count has not moved since 2023 — even as 2026 brought a construction permit, a modern licensing framework and four reactors reaching criticality in the US. A read of the gap between permits and power.
Big tech power deals and listed names (NuScale, Oklo) have lifted SMR sentiment, but Western first-of-a-kind units don't reach the grid until ~2030. We weigh the gap between order books and operating reactors. (Our opinion, not investment advice.)
Our read — labelled opinion, not investment advice.
Headlines feature Western startups, but the only commercial SMRs operating today are Russia's floating Akademik Lomonosov (2020) and China's HTR-PM (2023). China's Linglong One aims to be the first land-based commercial unit in 2026.
SMRs are smaller (under ~300 MWe) reactors built in factories and shipped as units, betting that repetition and standardization beat the cost overruns of giant one-off plants.