Next-generation Nuclear Power: Small Modular Reactors and their Role in a Low-carbon Future

Policymakers and industry leaders increasingly recognize the urgent need to decarbonize while ensuring reliable and affordable access to electricity. Rising demand from AI data centers, hydrogen production, and industrial electrification is straining conventional grids and highlighting the limitations of a renewables-only approach to decarbonization. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are gaining traction as a vital pathway to achieve deep decarbonization, offering compact, modular nuclear plants with enhanced safety, flexible siting options, and faster deployment than traditional nuclear reactors. However, international progress in expanding nuclear capacity remains uneven. Effective SMR adoption must align energy independence, regulatory innovation, and industrial competitiveness to deliver long-term resilience. Technology advances, diverse reactor types, and global investment momentum are making SMRs practical, economically viable, and increasingly essential to future energy strategies.

In this report, we focus on the commercialization prospects of SMR technologies and how they can potentially reshape the global clean-energy landscape.