NuScale Power Clears Key Manufacturing Milestone for Passive Cooling System
NuScale Power Clears Key Manufacturing Milestone for Passive Cooling System
NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), the small modular reactor developer, announced on Sept. 1 that it has successfully produced specialized boron-oxide pellets alongside partner MilleniTEK — a component central to the passive emergency cooling system at the heart of its reactor design.
The pellets matter because passive cooling is one of the defining safety features of NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) architecture. Rather than relying on pumps and external power to manage emergency conditions, the system is engineered to cool the reactor automatically, a capability the company points to as evidence of its meltdown-resistant design philosophy. Domestic fabrication of the boron-oxide material removes a supply-chain and engineering dependency as the company works toward commercial deployment.
NuScale occupies a distinctive regulatory position in the emerging SMR sector: it is the only developer to have received a Standard Design Approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Its NuScale Power Module is a light water reactor rated at 77 megawatts of electricity, and the company also provides design and licensing documentation to support deployment projects.
Shares of NuScale closed at $9.77 in the prior session and traded down 0.72% to roughly $9.70 following the announcement, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $2.98 billion. The stock is classified in the industrials sector, under specialty industrial machinery.
The milestone arrives amid intensifying interest in SMR technology as utilities and industrial customers evaluate smaller, factory-built reactors as alternatives to large conventional nuclear plants. Execution on manufacturing details — such as specialized neutron-absorbing materials — is one of the practical steps separating design approvals from operating power plants, which is why the company framed the pellet fabrication as a meaningful engineering step rather than a routine procurement.
MilleniTEK’s role in the collaboration highlights a broader pattern in the nuclear supply chain, where reactor designers increasingly partner with specialized materials and fabrication firms to qualify components that must meet exacting regulatory standards.
What to watch
- NuScale’s upcoming earnings report, including updates on project timelines and manufacturing progress.
- Further milestones in qualifying components for the passive emergency cooling system.
- Regulatory and deployment developments tied to the company’s NRC Standard Design Approval, including customer agreements for its 77 MWe module.
Source: original release