Nuclear Construction & the SMR Reality Check

Methodology

Counts capacity where construction has formally started — first structural concrete poured — not announcements, letters of intent, site options or memoranda. That distinction is the entire point of this index: SMR press activity is enormous and SMR construction is almost nil. Just two commercial SMRs are under construction anywhere: 125 MW in China and 300 MW in Russia. Note the unit change — the SMR chart is in MEGAWATTS while the capacity chart is in GIGAWATTS, because plotting them on one axis would render the SMR bars invisible. Combined, those two projects are 0.425 GW against 78 GW total under construction. CAVEAT: the IAEA projects SMRs at 24% of new capacity by 2050 in its high case and 5% in its low case. That is an unusually wide spread and reflects how little has actually been built, not disagreement about demand. Those projections are NOT seeded here — they are scenario outputs, not measurements. Context: half of all capacity under construction is in China, which expects ~100 GW installed by around 2030. Egypt, India and Türkiye each have roughly 5 GW under way. Re-verified 2026-08-10.