The Duck Curve#smr
AEP, X-energy and Amazon study 960 MW Xe-100 plant at Indiana coal site
American Electric Power and X-energy signed a joint development agreement, announced October 19, 2026, to study a 960 MW plant of 12 Xe-100 reactors at the former Breed Generating Station coal site in Sullivan County, Indiana. Amazon is funding development and, if the plant is built, intends to buy its power under a long-term contract covering the facility's costs; none of the companies gave a cost estimate or schedule for the plant.
Terrestrial asks NRC to rule IMSR turbine side is not nuclear construction
Terrestrial Energy submitted a topical report on October 8, 2026 asking the NRC to confirm that building its IMSR plant's Thermal and Electric Facility (turbines, generators, steam supply) is not nuclear construction under 10 CFR 50.10(a)(1), so it could be built and run before a construction permit.
Advanced reactors in the US: SMRs and microreactors
As of October 20, 2026, TVA holds an NRC construction permit for what the agency calls the nation's first commercial SMR, DOE's August 6 count put five advanced reactors critical under its authorization, and none of them holds an NRC operating license.
NRC issues TVA a construction permit for a 300 MW BWRX-300 at Clinch River
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the Tennessee Valley Authority Construction Permit CPAR-2 for Clinch River Nuclear Unit 1, a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 rated 300 MWe, dated September 28, 2026 and announced September 29 as clearing the way for the nation's first commercial small modular reactor after a 14-month review. The permit sets the earliest completion date at October 1, 2031 and the latest at September 30, 2032, and a separate operating license is required before fuel load; TVA's release says no construction date has been announced.
Samsung C&T commits up to $100M of investment and engineering to Kairos
Kairos Power and Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group signed a binding term sheet, announced September 21, 2026, under which Samsung C&T agreed to provide up to $100 million in direct investment and in-kind engineering services, subject to regulatory approvals, for the Hermes 2 Demonstration Plant, and to join Kairos's EPC team. A Kairos spokesperson told TechCrunch the equity investment makes up $70 million of the total. The NRC issued Hermes 2's construction permits on November 21, 2024; no operating license application appears on the NRC's Hermes 2 page as of September 21, 2026.
EIB backs Steady Energy's heat-only SMR with up to €40M convertible loan
The European Investment Bank said on September 15, 2026 it is investing up to €40 million in Steady Energy, the Finnish developer of the 50 MW (thermal) heat-only LDR-50 reactor for district heating, as a senior unsecured convertible loan it calls its first investment in SMR technology. A 3North Partners release that day says the loan carries zero percent interest and a 20-year maturity and joins about €69.8 million in irrevocable but conditional investor commitments, an IPO of up to €5 million, and a planned Nasdaq First North listing under a September 11, 2026 share exchange agreement.
Deep Fission lowers full-size canister replica 100 feet into a borehole
Deep Fission said on September 10, 2026 that a commercial drilling crew lowered a full-size, non-nuclear prototype of its Gravity reactor canister, 20 feet long, to a depth of 100 feet in a 34-inch borehole and retrieved it on September 3, 2026, using equipment already in commercial drilling service. The company's design places a pressurized water reactor about one mile underground; it said on August 6, 2026 that DOE had approved its Nuclear Safety Design Agreement under the Reactor Pilot Program.
CU Boulder preprint says SMR operating costs, not capex, drive poor returns
A preprint posted to arXiv on September 8, 2026 by Pradyumna Rao, Daniel T. Kaffine, and Bri-Mathias Hodge of the University of Colorado Boulder finds that fuel and operating costs, not investment costs, make small modular reactors uneconomical at manufacturer-advertised costs in US wholesale and capacity markets: almost all concepts have discounted payback periods longer than their technical lifetimes on energy revenue, 18 of 22 do not reach a 20-year payback at current production tax credit levels, and at advertised costs SMRs are about as profitable as advanced estimates of the AP1000.
Siemens Energy's Newcastle works to build turbines for UK's first SMRs
Rolls-Royce SMR announced on September 3, 2026 that key steam turbine components for its first three reactors at the Gwyndod project on Anglesey, North Wales, including high-pressure turbines and valve casings, will be manufactured at Siemens Energy's Newcastle site, the former CA Parsons Works. The company says the work will support more than 550 jobs and is the first time such components will be produced for a small modular reactor anywhere in Europe.
Studsvik picks GE Vernova Hitachi, Samsung C&T for four Swedish BWRX-300s
Studsvik AB announced on September 3, 2026 an exclusive agreement with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Samsung C&T, GE Vernova Financial Services, and DS Investment Partners to advance an initial four-unit BWRX-300 project of approximately 1,200 MWe at either its Nyköping site or the Målma site in Valdemarsvik, Sweden, with the first unit expected in operation in the mid-2030s. The agreement is not a final investment decision or an authorization to construct; both sites await Swedish government approval, and Studsvik applied for state financing support on June 12, 2026.
