Arthur D. Little has published a major new report, ‘The Growth and Future of Small Modular Reactors’, which explores the transformative potential of SMRs in advancing global energy security and decarbonisation goals.
While SMRs promise faster, more flexible, and potentially cheaper deployment than traditional nuclear plants, the report highlights several barriers that must be addressed, from cost competitiveness and supply chain scalability to regulatory harmonisation and market activation.
The International Atomic Energy Agency lists 68 SMR designs either existing or in development, and the lack of a dominant, proven model could curb commitments from utilities and investors.
Most SMR designs are being developed in the USA, Russia, and China, but the sector is attracting companies from a large number of countries, even those with limited or no nuclear experience, such as Argentina and Poland.
SMRs are defined by the IAEA as having power capacity of up to 300 MWe, and broadly fall into two categories:
Gen III/III+ – adaptations of existing LNPP designs that use light water as the coolant; they offer the market familiar, well-understood technology.
Gen IV – new designs that use different cooling sources, such as helium, molten salt, or molten metal (for example sodium and lead); these are untested technologies with limited or no operating experience.
Advantages of SMRs
A key advantage of SMRs is their modular, factory-based construction. Components are built using standardised processes, which cuts costs and deployment times compared with often bespoke LNPPs.
However, to get an SMR into the market, the firm behind the technology needs to prove that it is fit for purpose. While China and Russia have begun to produce power using SMRs, some promising projects elsewhere have faced setbacks. NuScale’s Idaho Falls project was cancelled in November 2023 due to growing concerns over cost overruns, construction delays, and a declining willingness among project stakeholders to bear the risks associated with first–of–a–kind development.
A new structure
Bringing an SMR to market will depend on more than just the manufacturer and an ecosystem of stakeholders, including energy companies, regulators and investors will all be involved. The financial challenges companies face in rolling out SMRs means that governments must create strategies and legislation to help SMRs along the way.
The authors of the Arthur D Little survey suggest that only a handful of the currently active SMR designs will reach successful commercial deployment, but high uncertainty exists around which will prevail. What appears more certain is that whichever SMR manufacturer achieves the first successful deployment in the West will secure a significant competitive advantage.
Read the full report: The growth & future of small modular reactors | Arthur D. Little
