Global SMR market development

In late July 2026, Hyundai Engineering held an internal seminar on the North American small modular reactor (SMR) market, reviewing regulatory trends, the growing electricity demand from AI‑driven data centers, and the company’s strategy to leverage its portfolio of about 250 nuclear‑design projects. Hyundai highlighted joint development with global SMR vendors, strategic investment partnerships, and related clean‑energy research, including a recent memorandum on fusion and participation in a US‑based lithium‑boron plant project. A week later, broader market analysis showed the SMR sector poised for rapid expansion. The International Energy Agency projected global SMR investment to climb from roughly $5 billion today to over $25 billion by 2030 and $670 billion by 2050. NuScale Power’s VOYGR design, the only NRC‑certified SMR, is expected to generate early revenue before its first units become operational in the early 2030s in the United States and Romania. GE Vernova’s larger BWRX‑300 aims for a first Canadian installation by 2030. An August 3 techno‑economic study by the H₂Zero Research Unit (Frederick University) refined cost estimates: electricity from SMRs could range from US$90/MWh for small units to US$46/MWh for larger ones, desalinated water at US$0.65‑0.43 per m³ and pink hydrogen at US$6.95‑3.76 per kg. Deploying SMRs alongside renewables could cut integrated water‑hydrogen infrastructure costs by 20‑30 % and accelerate full‑sector decarbonisation, enabling large-scale hydrogen production after 2035. On August 4, Entergy Services, Holtec International and Hyundai Engineering & Construction signed a non‑binding memorandum to assess Holtec’s SMR‑300 for dual‑unit projects in the Gulf South, potentially delivering up to 680 MW of carbon‑free baseload power for industrial facilities, advanced manufacturing and AI‑driven data centers. On August 10, NuScale Power announced it has met the preconditions for commercial deployment of its SMR technology, having secured regulatory approvals, established fuel availability, and developed a contracted supply chain.