The Department of Energy’s research programs in the early 2000s had helped position the US as a global leader in SMRs against competitors like Russia and China. It was now up to NuScale Power to carry the project forward to commercialization.

By 2008, we had informed the NRC that NuScale Power intended to pursue Design Certification (DC) for the technology — something required before a new type of nuclear plant can be built in the US.

Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that one day I’d be the founder of a nuclear energy startup. And yet it happened — Dr. Jose Reyes, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, NuScale Power

It struck me that there was a massive need to address growing global energy demand while tackling what is arguably the greatest challenge facing our planet: climate change. We needed a reliable way to provide clean, safe, cost-efficient energy, both for on-grid and for remote locations. In the early years of NuScale, such a mandate sounded like a tall order for a single energy technology, but today I am more convinced than ever that we’ve found the answer.

I began to understand how SMR technology could completely upend how we think about our energy needs for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. Our new SMR design addressed public concerns about nuclear power by simplifying and streamlining earlier models. It also offered unparalleled reliability and safety without the financial burden and the imposing size and siting challenges of traditional nuclear facilities.

More than a decade of intensive research, testing and review later, NuScale’s SMR technology is the first and only SMR to undergo NRC design certification review and is now entering its final stages. With a smarter and simplified design, our NuScale reactor offers a new level of safety, economy and resilience in nuclear power, requiring fewer staff and having lower operating costs than designs that have come before. Not only that, but it is fully capable of integrating with variable renewables.

The NuScale story is one of innovation and perseverance.

America’s first SMR is set to go online in 2026 at the Idaho National Labs, where it will provide reliable, carbon-free electricity for Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems’ members across six western states.

The path from innovation to commercialization of this groundbreaking technology has been a long and challenging one, but I’m proud to share that NuScale Power, which started in a vacant bank building in downtown Corvallis, is on track to deliver.

The NuScale story is one of innovation and perseverance; a game-changing technology stemming from an exciting collaboration between academia, government and the private sector and now attracting aspiring customers on five different continents.

Our goal has always been simple — to change the power that changes the world. I’d say we’re well on our way.