What are small modular reactors (SMRs)?

Small modular reactors (under ~300 MW) are built in a factory and shipped to site, trading the economies of scale of a giant plant for the economies of mass production — repeatable quality, lower up-front capital, and faster builds. It's a genuinely promising way to make nuclear cheaper and easier to finance.

The honest caveat, and why this is labelled contested: the cost advantage is still being proven, and the flagship US NuScale/UAMPS project was cancelled in 2023. But several designs are licensed or under construction, and the underlying logic — let factories do what factories do best — is sound. This is a bet worth watching closely.