The future of energy is nuclear—and modular

Posted: June 26, 2026

Boomtimes for smart reactors

The future of nuclear energy is bright—glowing, even. After decades of skepticism, private industry is investing billions in the technology to power the burgeoning AI sector and its proliferating data centers’ skyrocketing demand for energy. Across the world, governments are reevaluating the power source as an important green alternative to fossil fuels, creating a regulatory environment—for so long, so hostile to nuclear—that is increasingly favorable to nuclear development. And now there is a technology that promises to address the financial and logistical complexity that has long plagued nuclear projects—the small modular reactor (SMR). SMRs possess the potential to make going nuclear a more efficient process—reducing the cost, time, and overall risk of these projects.

Cracking the nuclear code

There is more enthusiasm for nuclear energy than ever before. Still, reactors have been notoriously difficult to build. High costs—especially cost overruns—and a hostile regulatory environment have long hampered the sector. It’s been over twenty years since a nuclear plant was built on time or on budget in the United States or Europe.^[1] Even as nuclear sources generated the greatest amount of power ever in 2024 (2,667 TWh)^[2] and there are 70 reactors currently under construction across the globe^[3] Goldman Sachs projects that there will be a great shortfall in meeting data centers’ energy needs. The firm’s analysts forecast that of the 85-90 GW more of nuclear energy that data centers will need in 2030 (as compared to 2023), the industry is currently only on track to meet 10% of those requirements^.[4]

“It’s been over twenty years since a nuclear plant was built on time or on budget in the United States or Europe.”^[1]
 

This shortfall is not the result of a lack of investment. Google, Meta, and Amazon have committed to nearly 30 GW of nuclear capacity to power AI data centers, pledging, along with 14 leading financial institutions, to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050.^[5] In 2024, private investment in the nuclear sector was more than the four previous years combined.^[6]  In January 2026, the U.S. Congress appropriated $1.785 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.^[7]This is on top of a $1 billion loan for the Crane Clean Energy Restart Center and $2.7 billion for the production of high-assay low-enriched uranium in 2025.^[8]

Rather, nuclear development takes time—projects are often calculated in decades rather than years. But this is changing. One of the major sources of delay was a regulatory environment that viewed nuclear with suspicion, even though coal burners have been proven much more deleterious to human health^[9] But governments are shifting their perspective on the technology. China has openly embraced nuclear development, enabling its rise to the leaders in commercial nuclear technology.^[10] The U.S. is promising to expedite nuclear reactor licensing.^[11] And the EU too has signaled a new willingness to develop nuclear technology as part of its green energy portfolio, with plans to produce 109 GW by 2050.^[12] All this signals a potential not only for more nuclear development but also faster development. And the innovation of the SMR promises to accelerate the nuclear timeline significantly.

Read AVEVA’s reporting in Our Industrial Life: “China’s nuclear know-how”

How SMRs are accelerating nuclear development

The SMR is no longer simply a concept. It’s a business plan with a market that is expected to be worth up to $300 billion by 2040.^[13] Going nuclear doesn’t have to mean going big, or going over budget. Rather, the reduction in scale is a reduction in complexity too. And that means more control of the project’s timeline and ultimate success.

A modular component has always been an important element in the development of nuclear facilities. And the firms pioneering the SMR envision every aspect of its development as modular. The smaller size of the SMR enables every element to be produced in a factory and then transported for assembly. This means, over time, the speed compounds—as central locations efficiently produce power plants without needing personnel to constantly be traveling to build on site.

The technology is just launching, but it’s already showing that it can accelerate a nuclear reactor’s timeline. Right now, there are 127 SMR technologies in development.^[14] Companies like NuScale, GE Vernova Hitachi, TerraPower, Kairos Power, and OPG  are all in the process of bringing SMRs online. GE Vernova Hitachi’s SMR, the BWRX-300, has completed regulatory steps one and two in the United Kingdom already.^[15] NuScale has achieved approval for two of its SMR designs, including NRC Standard Design Approval for its 77 MWe SMR, and expects its reactor to go live by 2030.^[16] OPG is the furthest along of companies operating among the largest Western economies. It has even laid the foundation at its Darlington New Nuclear Project Site for the first of its 4 planned BWRX-300 SMRs . With OPG leading the way, Canada is poised to be the first G7 country to have an operating SMR^[17] The China National Nuclear Corporation has gone even further. It has already achieved not only a successful cold-state functional test but also a non-nuclear steam startup test. The project began in July 2021 and is scheduled to enter into commercial operation before the end of the year.^[18] At just seven years, it’s an extraordinary feat of nuclear development and, perhaps, a herald of a more efficient, not to mention greener future.

Nuclear acceleration depends on digital transformation

SMRs have the potential to change the pace of nuclear development. However, to best take advantage of the possibilities offered by this potentially transformational technology, the industry needs to draw on similarly state-of-the-art software solutions.

Even with the production techniques that the firms are pioneering to enable SMRs and increase overall efficiency, companies still have to address supply chain constraints and workforce shortages. In this, SMR producers are no different than developers of traditional nuclear reactors. They also have to make sure their factory and construction processes are running at peak efficiency to overcome or better yet, avoid, any shortfall in material or manpower. 

Bruce Power reduces time and cost at engineering closeout

To realize the promise of modularity, companies need to first have a digital foundation where their data is standardized. Engineers and operators need to be able to access information across multiple sites and with the proper contextualization to be able to act on it and, for example, perform the assembly of standardized materials brought in from a central location according to a standardized model. Only when this can be a truly iterative process will SMRs become cost effective.^[19]

When Bruce Power, the operator of North America’s largest nuclear facility, needed to enable its employees to react more quickly to its data, it turned to AVEVA to phase in a digital transformation strategy to support the life extension projects across its 8 CANDU advanced reactor facilities. AVEVA tailored a strategy that worked for Bruce Power and began with areas where optimization would have the greatest impact. One initiative that Bruce Power undertook was to integrate AVEVA™ Asset Information Management with AVEVA™ PI Vision™ into the company’s preexisting AVEVA™ PI System™. Once integrated, Bruce Power provided its engineers with real-time operational data, which allowed them to optimize processes immediately. And just with this step, Bruce Power has seen immediate improvement in its project delivery and maintenance: a reduction of 50% in time and cost at engineering closeout.

With AVEVA™ Point Cloud Manager, hosted on CONNECT, Bruce Power's engineering teams could house laser scans in a central virtual location and access them remotely on the cloud. With this new tool, teams saved time spent on walk-downs by 15% and, because of the increased collaboration enabled by the cloud access, reduced 30% of time spent in the execution of the scans. The power company expects even more savings when it implements AVEVA™ Unified Engineering and AVEVA™ Enterprise Resource Management and further optimizes its organizational workflow.

Bruce Power cut engineering closeout time and cost by 50% — a significant improvement in project delivery and maintenance.
 

How can AVEVA Unified Engineering improve your SMR project engineering?

With industry’s energy demands set to increase year after year, nuclear energy has a big part to play in forging a path toward a greener and more efficient future. And SMRs promise to play a big role in this. AVEVA can be a trusted partner on this journey.

AVEVA has decades of expertise in the nuclear sector that it can draw on to meet the growing demand for small modular reactors. It can provide you with the insight you need, from design through optimization.

Want to simplify multidisciplinary coordination on your next SMR project?

^{[1]“Why nuclear is now a booming industry,” The Economist. 4 Sept 2025. https://www.economist.com/business/2025/09/04/why-nuclear-is-now-a-booming-industry
[2]“Nuclear delivers record breaking year in electricity generation,” World Nuclear Association. 1 Sept 2025. https://world-nuclear.org/news-and-media/press-statements/world-nuclear-performance-report-2025-nuclear-delivers-record-breaking-year-in-electricity-generation
[3] ibid
[4] Goldman Sachs, “Is nuclear energy the answer to AI data centers’ power consumption?” 23 January 2025. https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/is-nuclear-energy-the-answer-to-ai-data-centers-power-consumption
[5] Maria Korsnick, “State of the Nuclear Industry.” 20 May 2025. https://www.nei.org/news/2025/state-of-the-nuclear-energy-industry-2025
[6] ibid
[7]“Congress passes new nuclear funding,” Nuclear Newswire. 20 January 2026. https://www.ans.org/news/2026-01-20/article-7686/congress-passes-new-nuclear-funding/
[8] “FACT SHEET: The Energy Department Is Delivering On Accelerating The Deployment Of Nuclear Power,” 19 January 2026. https://www.energy.gov/articles/fact-sheet-energy-department-delivering-accelerating-deployment-nuclear-power
[9]“Developers of small modular reactors hope their time has come,” The Economist. 26 Mar 2022. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/developers-of-small-modular-reactors-hope-their-time-has-come/21808321
[10] Robert D. Atkinson, “China Is rapidly becoming a leading innovator in advanced industries,” 16 Sept 2024. https://itif.org/publications/2024/09/16/china-is-rapidly-becoming-a-leading-innovator-in-advanced-industries/ [11] “9 Key Takeaways from President Trump’s Executive Orders on Nuclear Energy,” Office of Nuclear Energy. 10 June 2025. https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/9-key-takeaways-president-trumps-executive-orders-nuclear-energy
[12]Kate Abnett and Julia Payne, “EU's nuclear energy plans require 241 billion euro investment, draft shows,” Reuters. 13 June 2025. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/eus-nuclear-energy-plans-require-241-billion-euro-investment-draft-shows-2025-06-13/
[13] Jason Deign, “Nuclear: These countries are investing in small modular reactors,” The World Economic Forum. 13 Jan 2021. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2021/01/buoyant-global-outlook-for-small-modular-reactors-2021/
[14]“The NEA Small Modular Reactor Dashboard,” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: Nuclear Energy Agency. 3rd Edition. 2025
[15] “BWRX-300 small modular reactor reaches regulatory milestone in the UK,” GE Vernova. 11 December 2025. https://www.gevernova.com/news/press-releases/bwrx-300-nuclear-small-modular-reactor-reaches-regulatory-milestone-uk
[16]“NuScale Power’s Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Achieves Standard Design Approval from U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 77 MWE,” NuScale, 29 May 2025. https://www.nuscalepower.com/press-releases/2025/nuscale-powers-small-modular-reactor-smr-achieves-standard-design-approval-from-us-nuclear-regulatory-commission-for-77-mwe
[17]“Laying the foundation for the G7’s first Small Modular Reactor,” OPG. 30 April 2026. https://www.opg.com/news-resources/newsroom/our-stories/story/laying-the-foundation-for-the-g7s-first-small-modular-reactor/
[18] “Chinese SMR completes non-nuclear steam start up test,” World Nuclear News. 8 Jan 2026. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/chinese-smr-completes-non-nuclear-steam-start-up-test
[19] “MODULAR REACTOR LEADERS PLOT ROUTE TO MARKET AT SMR & ADVANCED REACTOR 2026,” Reuters Events, June 2026.}