Small Modular Reactors Go Global

How China, Canada, France and the US are racing to deploy SMRs for AI infrastructure, with surprising leaders and unexpected challenges

The nuclear-AI revolution is unfolding differently than anyone predicted. While Silicon Valley grabs headlines, the most instructive SMR deployment isn't in California but in Changjiang, China, where the world's first commercial SMR began powering data centers in December 2024. The Linglong One reactor, delivering 125 MW of clean power, offers crucial lessons about speed, scale, and the reality of nuclear-powered AI infrastructure.

From Ontario's ambitious plans for four SMRs at Darlington to support Toronto's emerging AI cluster, to EDF's pivot from large reactors to SMRs for French data centers, the global race reveals both universal challenges and unique regional solutions. The stakes couldn't be higher: with AI electricity demand projected to reach 1,000 TWh by 2026, SMRs represent a £650 billion ($800 billion, €750 billion) infrastructure opportunity.

This week, we examine what's actually working in SMR deployment across four continents, why some nations are surging ahead while others stall, and what the first year of operational SMRs teaches us about powering the AI future.

The China Speed Advantage: Linglong One Changes Everything

China's approach to SMR deployment offers the starkest contrast to Western models. The Linglong One reactor in Hainan Province achieved commercial operation in just 58 months from groundbreaking, compared to typical Western nuclear projects taking 10-15 years. This isn't just about authoritarian efficiency; it's about integrated planning that Western nations are now scrambling to emulate.

"The integration is remarkable," notes Dr. Chen Wei, director of the China Nuclear Energy Association. "The reactor, data center, cooling systems, and grid connection were designed as one system from day one. Western projects typically treat these as separate elements, adding years to deployment."

The numbers support this integrated approach. Linglong One delivers power at £45 per MWh ($56, €52), compared to £75-100 ($93-124, €87-116) for traditional nuclear and £60-80 ($74-99, €70-93) for renewables with battery backup. The adjacent 50 MW data center, operated by China Telecom, reports 99.999% uptime since beginning operations.

Key innovations from the Chinese model:

• Pre-approved sites with completed environmental assessments

• Standardized designs allowing factory fabrication of major components

• Integrated permitting covering nuclear, data center, and grid elements

• Government-backed financing at 2.5% interest rates

• Workforce training programs started three years before construction

Canada's Public-Private Revolution: The Ontario Model

While China leverages state control, Canada pioneers a different approach through sophisticated public-private partnerships. Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) Darlington SMR project, breaking ground this October, demonstrates how democratic nations can accelerate nuclear deployment without compromising safety or public engagement.

The Darlington project will deploy four GE Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors, each producing 300 MW, specifically to power the Toronto-Waterloo AI corridor. What makes this project revolutionary isn't just the technology but the financing and governance model that could unlock SMR deployment globally.

"We've created a replicable template," explains Nicolle Butcher, OPG's VP of Strategy. "The combination of federal loan guarantees, provincial green bonds, and tech company power purchase agreements reduces capital costs by 40%."

The financing structure breaks down as:

• £2.1 billion ($2.6 billion, €2.4 billion) in federal loan guarantees at 1.5% above government bond rates

• £1.6 billion ($2 billion, €1.85 billion) in Ontario green bonds marketed to pension funds

• £3.2 billion ($4 billion, €3.7 billion) in 20-year power purchase agreements from Google, Microsoft, and Canadian AI startup Cohere

• £800 million ($1 billion, €925 million) in vendor financing from GE Hitachi

This structure reduces the weighted average cost of capital to 4.8%, compared to 8-10% for traditional nuclear projects. The first reactor will come online in 2029, with full deployment by 2031.

France's Nuclear Renaissance: From EPRs to SMRs

France's pivot from its troubled EPR program to SMRs represents perhaps the most dramatic strategic shift in global nuclear policy. After spending £16 billion ($20 billion, €18.5 billion) on the delayed Flamanville EPR, EDF announced in March 2025 that all future reactors for data center applications would be SMRs.

The French approach leverages unique advantages: the world's most experienced nuclear workforce, existing nuclear industrial base, and strong public support. But it also acknowledges painful realities about large reactor construction in democratic societies.

"We can build a large EPR in 15 years or an SMR in 5 years," states Jean-Bernard Lévy, EDF's CEO. "For AI infrastructure needs, the choice is obvious."

EDF's NUWARD SMR, a 340 MW design, incorporates lessons from both French nuclear experience and global SMR development:

• Simplified safety systems reducing component count by 50%

• Factory fabrication of reactor modules in Belfort

• Standardized digital control systems based on EPR technology

• Design optimization for data center cooling integration

The first NUWARD deployment at Cordemais, replacing a coal plant, will power Scaleway's new 100 MW data center. The project economics reveal why SMRs make sense for AI infrastructure:

• Capital cost: £5.1 billion ($6.3 billion, €5.9 billion) for 340 MW

• Construction time: 48 months from first concrete

• Levelized cost: £52 per MWh ($65, €60)

• Data center cooling synergy saves additional £8 million ($10 million, €9.3 million) annually

United States: The Innovation Ecosystem Approach

The US takes yet another path, leveraging its venture capital ecosystem and technological innovation culture. With three major tech companies now directly investing in SMR development, the American model demonstrates how private capital can accelerate nuclear deployment when properly incentivized.

Microsoft's unprecedented £385 million ($500 million, €445 million) investment in X-energy, combined with a 20-year power purchase agreement, shows how tech companies are becoming nuclear developers. The first X-energy Xe-100 deployment in Washington state reveals both the promise and challenges of the US approach.

The Xe-100 project benefits from several US-specific advantages:

• Department of Energy cost-sharing reducing development risk

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission's streamlined licensing for SMRs

• Investment tax credits making nuclear competitive with renewables

• State-level clean energy mandates creating guaranteed markets

However, the US also faces unique challenges. Local opposition delayed the project by 18 months, adding £120 million ($150 million, €139 million) to costs. Supply chain constraints, with only one qualified pressure vessel manufacturer in the US, threaten deployment timelines.

"The US has amazing innovation but struggles with execution," observes Dr. Rita Baranwal, former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. "We need to match our technological leadership with manufacturing capacity and streamlined permitting."

Universal Lessons: What Works and What Doesn't

Analyzing these four distinct approaches reveals universal truths about successful SMR deployment for AI infrastructure:

Speed Requires Integration

Whether through Chinese central planning or Canadian public-private partnerships, successful projects integrate nuclear, data center, and grid planning from conception. Treating these as separate projects adds years and billions in costs.

Financing Innovation Is Critical

Traditional nuclear financing models don't work for SMRs. Successful projects blend government support, tech company commitments, and innovative financial instruments to achieve sub-5% cost of capital.

Standardization Drives Economics

Both Chinese and French programs benefit from standardized designs enabling factory production. The US pursuit of multiple designs, while fostering innovation, may ultimately slow deployment.

Workforce Development Can't Wait

Canada and France's existing nuclear workforce provides huge advantages. China and the US must invest heavily in training programs, adding time and cost to deployment.

Social License Matters Everywhere

Even in China, public acceptance required extensive community engagement. Western democracies need even more sophisticated approaches to building support for nuclear infrastructure.

The Technical Reality Check

Behind the headlines and financial engineering lies hard technical reality. Operating SMRs for data center applications reveals challenges no amount of innovation can eliminate:

The Xenon Transient Problem: When SMRs power cycle to match data center loads, xenon-135 buildup can prevent restart for 24-48 hours. Linglong One solves this through oversizing and grid connection, accepting lower capacity factors.

Cooling Integration Complexity: While data centers and reactors both need cooling, their requirements differ significantly. Reactor cooling demands higher reliability and regulatory approval, limiting synergy potential.

Cybersecurity Convergence: Connecting nuclear plants to data centers creates new attack surfaces. The Darlington project includes a £40 million ($50 million, €46 million) "air gap" facility isolating nuclear and data systems.

Maintenance Window Misalignment: SMRs require 30-day refueling outages every 2 years. Data centers demand 99.999% uptime. Solutions include oversizing, grid backup, or accepting lower reliability tiers.

The Path Forward: 2025-2030

Based on current deployment trajectories and announced projects, the SMR landscape will transform dramatically by 2030:

China: 20 SMRs operational, powering 2.5 GW of data center capacity

• Standardized ACP100 design in mass production

• Integrated nuclear-digital industrial parks in 10 provinces

• Export agreements with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia

Canada: 8 SMRs operational, 2.4 GW total capacity

• Darlington complex fully operational

• Saskatchewan and New Brunswick projects underway

• Indigenous partnership model expanding nationwide

France: 6 SMRs operational, 2 GW capacity

• NUWARD design certified for European deployment

• Joint ventures in Poland, Czech Republic, and Finland

• Repurposing of coal sites accelerating

United States: 12 SMRs operational, 3.5 GW capacity

• Three competing designs achieving commercial deployment

• Tech company-owned reactors becoming common

• Manufacturing capacity constraints partially resolved

Rest of World: 15 SMRs across UK, Japan, South Korea, UAE

• UK's Rolls-Royce SMR achieving first deployment

• Japan's renewed nuclear program focusing on SMRs

• Middle East emergence as major market

This represents approximately 15 GW of SMR capacity primarily serving AI infrastructure by 2030, meeting roughly 15% of projected AI electricity demand. While significant, it underscores that SMRs alone cannot solve the AI energy challenge.

The Uncomfortable Truths

As we analyze global SMR deployment, several uncomfortable realities emerge:

SMRs Aren't Actually Small: A 300 MW SMR requires a 50-acre site, comparable to traditional reactors. The "small" refers to output, not footprint, limiting deployment locations.

Economics Require Scale: Despite modularity promises, SMR economics only work with multiple unit deployments. Single-reactor sites struggle to compete with alternatives.

The Workforce Doesn't Exist: Global nuclear workforce declined 30% since 2010. Training new operators, technicians, and engineers takes 5-10 years, creating a fundamental bottleneck.

Regulatory Harmonization Failed: Despite efforts, each country maintains unique licensing requirements. The hoped-for "design once, deploy anywhere" model remains distant.

Public Opinion Remains Fragile: Support for SMRs assumes perfect safety records. A single significant incident could derail global deployment regardless of actual risk levels.

Investment Implications

For investors, the SMR-AI convergence presents both enormous opportunity and sobering complexity:

Pure-Play SMR Developers: Companies like X-energy, NuScale, and Terrestrial Energy offer high-risk, high-reward exposure. Current valuations assume successful deployment, leaving little margin for delays or technical challenges.

Nuclear Utilities: Established players like EDF, OPG, and Constellation Energy provide lower-risk SMR exposure with existing revenue streams. Their experience and balance sheets enable patient capital deployment.

Supply Chain Players: Often overlooked, companies producing specialized components may offer the best risk-adjusted returns. The £8.5 billion ($10.5 billion, €9.8 billion) SMR supply chain market remains fragmented and inefficient.

Integration Specialists: The highest returns may come from companies solving integration challenges between nuclear, data center, and grid infrastructure. This nascent sector attracts minimal investment despite critical importance.

Conclusion: The Race Has Just Begun

The global SMR deployment race reveals a fundamental truth: powering AI requires not just new technology but new models of development, financing, and cooperation. China's speed, Canada's partnerships, France's nuclear expertise, and America's innovation each offer essential lessons, but none provide a complete solution.

Success requires combining the best of each approach: Chinese integration and speed, Canadian financial innovation, French nuclear expertise, and American technological creativity. Countries and companies that synthesize these lessons while addressing workforce, regulatory, and social challenges will lead the nuclear-AI revolution.

The next five years will determine whether SMRs fulfill their promise of clean, reliable AI infrastructure power or join the long list of nuclear dreams deferred. Based on current evidence, cautious optimism seems warranted. The technology works, the economics increasingly make sense, and the demand certainly exists.

What remains is execution, and on that score, the global race has only just begun. As Linglong One quietly powers Chinese data centers and Darlington breaks ground in Ontario, the future of AI infrastructure takes shape one reactor at a time. The winners will be those who move fastest while learning from both successes and failures across the global nuclear landscape.

For business leaders, the message is clear: the nuclear-AI convergence is real, happening now, and accelerating. Whether through direct investment, power purchase agreements, or strategic partnerships, engaging with SMR deployment has shifted from optional to essential. The only question is how, not whether, your organization will participate in this fundamental reshaping of global energy infrastructure.