Energy · 2020

Small modular reactor

Factory-built reactors of tens of megawatts aim to cut nuclear costs.

Russia's floating Akademik Lomonosov, two 35 MW reactors derived from icebreakers, entered commercial operation in 2020. SMRs promise series production and smaller sites; NuScale received the first US NRC design certification in 2023.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Pressurized water reactor 1957
Nuclear submarine 1955

What it led to 2

HTR-PM pebble-bed plant 2023
Small modular reactors in service ~2031

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Nuclear electricity generation Latest: 2.81k TWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Share of electricity from low-carbon sources Latest: 42.6 % (2025) Source: Our World in Data