NuScale Power (SMR +3.36%) is an advanced nuclear energy company that's developing small modular reactors (SMRs). Although NuScale isn't the only nuclear company designing a compact reactor, it is the only U.S. company with an SMR design approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The company, of course, has yet to ink its first customer. Still, the first-mover advantage in getting a design approved has led the company to be "inundated" with requests from potential customers.
That, at least, is what CEO and President John Hopkins said on a second-quarter 2025 conference call. On that same call, he sanguinely forecast that the company would have two or three customers in place by the end of 2025. Fast-forward to today, and the company still doesn't have even one -- at least, not yet.
So what could investors expect to see from NuScale Power in 2026? Let's take a closer look.
Image source: NuScale Power.
Why 2026 will be the year NuScale books its first customer
NuScale has already lived through an existential crisis. Back in 2023, its first SMR project, the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) for the Idaho National Laboratory, was canceled due to soaring costs that had almost doubled from an estimated $5.3 billion to $9.4 billion. NuScale stock dropped about 20% on the heels of that news.
NYSE: SMR
Key Data Points
In the roughly two years since that failure, NuScale has yet to ink its first paying customer. Even so, two projects suggest that moment may be approaching: RoPower in Romania and its ongoing engagement with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The former could see six NuScale reactors employed in a Romanian SMR power plant. The latter could use NuScale's reactors to help develop up to 6 gigawatts of nuclear power.
Although neither has become a paying customer yet, they do show that NuScale's technology is being taken seriously.
Put together, I think they suggest a realistic outcome for 2026: NuScale's first customer will likely not be a traditional utility deal but rather a state-backed or institutionally supported agreement. It won't make NuScale profitable, but it will show that its reactors can be deployed along a commercial pathway.
