Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Pathway to Deployment

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Nuclear energy is the nation’s largest source of carbon-free power, and it provided 48 percent of America’s carbon-free electricity in 2023. The nuclear industry today is building new commercialization momentum as utilities and other potential customers see the successful operation of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, anticipate sustained load growth, and begin to take advantage of tax credits and other financial support made available by the Inflation Reduction Act. Utilities are seeking and receiving Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensees to extend reactor operations to 80 years, planning to uprate reactor capacity, reversing plans to close reactors, and restarting formerly shuttered reactors. However, the industry must still overcome barriers to achieve commercial liftoff by securing committed investments in an orderbook of new nuclear projects and standing up the industrial base needed for fleet-level deployment.