Small, modular nuclear reactors have been touted for at least the past 30-40 or so! Will they be more successful this time? There is a good chance for that given more electrical energy demand!
In the past high costs of large nuclear power reactors, fear of nuclear accidents and proliferation of atomic weapons prevented to some extent the expansion of civilian nuclear power generation (except in countries like France or China).
"The nuclear industry is in the midst of a renaissance. Old plants are being refurbished, and investors are showering startups with cash.
In the last several weeks of 2025 alone, nuclear startups raised $1.1 billion, largely on investor optimism that smaller nuclear reactors will succeed where the broader industry has recently stumbled.
Traditional nuclear reactors are massive pieces of infrastructure. The newest reactors built in the U.S. — Vogtle 3 and 4 in Georgia — contain tens of thousands of tons of concrete, are powered by fuel assemblies 14 feet tall, and generate over 1 gigawatt of electricity each. But they were also eight years late and more than $20 billion over budget. ...
Need more power? Just add more reactors. Smaller reactors, they argue, can be built using mass production techniques, and as companies produce more parts, they should get better at making them, which should drive down costs. ..."
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