en.Wedoany.com Reported - The United States leads globally in the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), having announced 28 projects or site selections planned for deployment by 2026. This number exceeds the total of the other four active countries combined, highlighting the scale of the US's efforts in this field.

In terms of project distribution, US national laboratories are involved in the most projects, with a total of seven; energy companies, universities, and SMR developers follow closely, each with five projects. This indicates that US SMR research and development is not concentrated in a single entity but is driven jointly by research institutions, industry, and academia.

Small modular reactors are considered a key option in the future clean energy system. Compared to traditional large-scale nuclear power units, SMRs are smaller in size and offer more flexible construction methods, with a single-unit power generation capacity typically ranging from 10 to 300 megawatts, whereas conventional reactors generally range between 1,000 and 1,400 megawatts. Their design concept aims to reduce costs through factory-based mass production and shorten construction timelines.

Currently, SMRs mainly include types such as light water reactors, fast neutron reactors, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, and molten salt reactors. Due to their compact and modular design, these units are easier to transport and deploy, making them particularly suitable for providing power to data centers, remote areas, and electricity consumption scenarios that are difficult to connect to the main power grid.