If you recognize that data centers are critical for modern technology but resent them for driving up electricity costs, you will love SMRs, or small modular reactors (SMRs). These cutting-edge nuclear power plants are designed to provide scalable electricity for heavy power users.

The SMR is revolutionary because of its clean, reliable power generation and size. Microreactors can fit in shipping containers and provide enough power for 1,000 to 5,000 homes—1 to 5 megawatts (MW). A single SMR that can power a steel factory, a semiconductor plant, or other large industrial sites is essentially a cylinder only 15 feet in diameter. Only a few SMRs would be required to power a hyperscale data center. Some can be located at the user’s site, not miles away.

Affordable, Absolutely Reliable Electricity is a Strategic Imperative

The United States stands at an energy crossroads. Our national defense and our way of life depend on artificial intelligence, data centers, advanced manufacturing, and reindustrialization. All those industries are driving electricity demand to levels that were once inconceivable. We desperately need affordable, clean, absolutely reliable baseload power.

Nuclear energy is the clear answer—and we already know how to build it at scale. We have done this before. In the 1970s and 1980s, America brought more than 60 nuclear reactors online, but only 3 have been built since the early 1990s. China, meanwhile, has built more than 50 reactors since 1985 and continues building aggressively. Nuclear and coal-fired power plants provide the baseload power that has fueled China’s industrial revolution.

SMRs: The Nuclear Tech We Have Been Waiting For

SMRs are the new nuclear technology we have been waiting for. They are safer and more flexible. They can be scaled to meet tailored requirements, cool down, and shut down in the absence of power, water, or operator input, and are designed to withstand any outside attack or accident.

Any nuclear energy technology must be fully certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for commercial deployment. There are many companies competing to develop SMRs that are in the investigative and experimental stage, but only one, NuScale, has received an NRC license for “behind-the-meter” applications. The company also has manufacturing, financing, and construction partnerships, including with ENTRA1, to deploy this critical technology.

Last year, NuScale and ENTRA1 signed an agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to collaborate on the development of SMR plants that could provide up to 6 gigawatts of power. That’s enough to power 4.5 million homes, or 60 data centers.

NRC approval for NuScale means this technology is viable and can be deployed in short order—not years from now—to begin producing sustainable, reliable baseload power. According to published reports about the technology approval, the company’s technology is ready for manufacturing and can produce power in as little as five years. NuScale’s approved technology also allows it to link multiple modules to ensure always-on power.

That message should be encouraging to Americans, and the Trump administration and state governments need to hear it.

NuScale’s approval demonstrates the technology exists today to operate on-site, or “behind the meter.” No vulnerable transmission infrastructure—such as wires, transformers, and substations—to fail. No overburdening of the local grid and higher costs for consumers—the data center produces its own power. No ultra-high-voltage lines crossing cities and towns, no virgin forests cut down for utility easements, and no massive, noisy generation plants in America’s communities.

It is high time America developed a serious energy and industrial policy to encourage SMR development. The Trump administration is demonstrating a strong commitment to nuclear power as a strategic national priority. These efforts should be accelerated now.

Deploy Approved Design and Prioritize More Nuclear Technology

Reindustrializing America and competing with China requires massive AI capability and enormous amounts of dependable electricity. Building a national missile shield, defending American forces against Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles, devising personalized cures for cancer and other debilitating diseases, and every aspect of modern life all depend on massive AI computing power. We cannot afford to fall further behind because of bureaucratic delays or a lack of political will.

History has shown us that nuclear power delivers unmatched long-term value in price stability and reliability. America built nuclear plants at scale before. We can do it again—smarter, faster, safer, and with modern modular designs that meet our needs today. What we need now is a national commitment to move forward decisively.

The path is clear: let’s start deploying NuScale’s NRC-certified design, prioritize the advancement of additional nuclear technologies, streamline construction approvals, and treat baseload power as a strategic imperative.

Our jobs, our factories, our technological edge, and our national security all depend on getting this right.