Nuclear industry racks up SMR supply deals across three continents

· Climate · United States · South Korea

A cluster of nuclear supply-chain agreements signed within two days shows small modular reactors moving from design toward deployment. NuScale Power contracted South Korea's Doosan Enerbility to manufacture an upper reactor coolant system for the NuScale Power Module, while US microreactor developer Antares Nuclear signed a commercial procurement deal with BWXT for an initial tonne of TRISO fuel, with volumes able to grow as deployment requirements evolve. Separately, Turkey's largest crude refiner TÜPRAŞ agreed with the US Trade and Development Agency on funding for technical assistance to assess whether SMRs could supply electricity, heat and steam to its refineries. In Slovakia, Westinghouse will carry out a Front-End Engineering and Design study for a possible AP1000 reactor at the Bohunice plant. Together the moves show utilities and heavy industry lining up reactor and fuel capacity before plants are built.

Why it matters：SMR developers have long promised factory-built reactors; firm manufacturing, fuel and engineering contracts are the step that turns those promises into deliverable projects and gives the supply chain its first real order book.

Key points

  • NuScale's contract with Doosan covers an upper reactor coolant system for its power module.
  • Antares' BWXT deal starts at one tonne of TRISO fuel and can scale with deployment needs.
  • TÜPRAŞ is the first refiner named in the items to study SMRs for industrial heat and steam.

Sources (original reporting)

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