SMR developments: July 2026
24 recorded developments dated July 2026: 1 permission or environmental decision, 1 application, 10 project developments, 5 announcements, 7 policy steps.
Entries are placed by their recorded date, not by when SMRMap added them. Entries dated only to a quarter or year are not assigned to a month. Each entry is dated when the development happened unless its label says otherwise, such as “Announced” or “Report dated”. A date recorded only to a month, quarter or year is shown that way. Targets are plans, not achievements or commitments.
Recorded developments
· Milestone
Milestone: DOE Reactor Pilot Program #
DOE reports four zero-power criticality demonstrations by July 2026.
· Recorded development
NRC draft safety evaluation sections completed for the Belews Creek ESP #
· Recorded development
Radiant receives first TRISO fuel tranche at INL's DOME facility #
· Recorded development
Ward 250 first electricity #
Valar says Ward 250 generated its first electricity on 1 July 2026 and that the electricity directly powered an NVIDIA chip. DOE's Reactor Pilot Program update says full power of 100 kWt, with the electricity used to power an NVIDIA Spark, on 2 July 2026. Both dates are kept. Neither source states a kilowatt-electric rating or a grid connection.
· Recorded development
Ward 250 reaches 100 kW thermal with electricity generation (DOE update) #
DOE's Reactor Pilot Program update of July 2026 lists 2 July 2026 as the day Ward 250 achieved full power of 100 kW thermal, with electricity generation. Valar's own statement dates electricity generation to 1 July 2026. The 250 kW thermal rating stored for this reactor comes from DOE's categorical exclusion; the update's full-power figure is 100 kW thermal.
Announced · Announcement
Aalo announces Project Ascension #
Aalo names its proposed second reactor and future 10 MWe data-center demonstration. This is an announcement date, not a construction start or achieved generation.
· First criticality
Aalo-X zero-power criticality #
Zero-power fueled criticality at INL. Not the RELLIS commercial proposal.
· Proposed
Proposed: Proposed revisions to NRC implementation of NEPA #
NRC proposed changes to its NEPA environmental-review procedures on 7 July 2026, with comments due 21 August. Proposed changes concern review scope, procedures, categorical exclusions and draft guidance. The notice establishes no final rule or effective date and grants no project exemption, construction permit or operating authority.
· Took effect
Took effect: Kentucky KRS 164.2805: Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program #
The compiled statute says it was created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 56, section 1, effective 15 July 2026. It authorizes a site-readiness grant process. The compiled page records no award. The session-law PDF prints the 8 April 2026 signature and does not print this effective line.
· Took effect
Took effect: Kentucky KRS 278.615: nuclear permit and license cost recovery #
The compiled statute says it was created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 56, section 2, effective 15 July 2026. It lets the commission consider cost recovery for specified NRC permit costs. It does not approve a plant. The session-law PDF prints the 8 April 2026 signature and does not print this effective line.
· Recorded development
Doicești FID conditions remain unresolved #
SNN reported unmet conditions and continuing commercial negotiations.
· Recorded development
Doicești: shareholders reject a strategy reassessment and note unmet investment-decision conditions #
Nuclearelectrica's shareholders acknowledged information on the work to fulfil the conditions attached to the February 2026 final investment decision and rejected initiating a reassessment of the 2022 SMR implementation strategy.
· Proposed
Proposed: Proposed modernization of NRC radiation-protection standards #
NRC proposed revisions to its radiation-protection standards on 15 July 2026, with comments due 31 August. The proposal includes rules used in reactor licensing and draft implementing guidance. No final rule or effective date is established by this notice, and it grants no reactor permission.
· Proposed
Proposed: Proposed modernization of reactor licensing, safety oversight and siting practices #
NRC proposal published 16 July 2026 under the Commission's revision of its rules ordered by Executive Order 14300; comments closed 31 August 2026. It is not in effect.
· Environmental decision recorded
Environmental decision recorded: DOE Aurora-INL B5.26 environmental categorical exclusion #
DOE Idaho approved environmental determination DOE-ID-INL-26-018 on 20 July 2026 for the proposed Aurora-INL reactor construction, installation and operation scope under B5.26. The document describes anticipated activities and a planned construction period; it is an environmental determination, not evidence that reactor construction occurred, an approval of the preliminary safety analysis, or authority to load fuel or operate.
· Amended
Amended: Pennsylvania Radiation Protection Act section 402.1: small modular reactor and microreactor fees #
The official compilation's compiler note says section 402.1 was added July 20, 2026, P.L. 464, No. 37. The official act page says the act was enacted from HB 2017 on that date and prints Effective 60 DAYS. No calendar effective date is printed, so none is stored, and the section's 30-day payment clock is not converted into a day.
Announced · Announcement
Natura announces DOE approval of the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for MSR-1 #
Announced · Announcement
Rolls-Royce SMR Dětmarovice candidate location proposal documented #
Named location under study in the ČEZ / Rolls-Royce SMR partnership. Site selection studies and a proposal do not establish construction or a committed unit count.
Announced · Announcement
Rolls-Royce SMR Tušimice candidate location proposal documented #
Named location under study in the ČEZ / Rolls-Royce SMR partnership. Site selection studies and a proposal do not establish construction or a committed unit count.
· Recorded development
Jimmy submits an updated Bazancourt creation-authorization file #
ASNR states that Jimmy filed an updated design and the remaining answers on 23 July 2026, and that MSNR seized ASNR on 24 July 2026 to review that file. The update is not a creation authorization.
· Recorded development
DOE conditional HALEU commitment for the Buckley microreactor #
DOE made a conditional commitment on 23 July 2026 to provide high-assay low-enriched uranium to Radiant for its deployment of a microreactor to the Air Force's preferred location, Buckley Space Force Base; DOE will next begin the contracting process. This is a fuel allocation commitment, not delivery, a site decision or permission.
· Recorded development
Nuclearelectrica answers a government Control Body report on the Doicești SMR #
Nuclearelectrica responded to a summary of the Prime Minister's Control Body report on the SMR project, saying the schedule was always an estimate and citing IAEA site-review missions. The company's response; the Control Body report's findings are not summarised here.
Checking notes
Nuclearelectrica published clarifications on issues raised in the summary of a report by the Romanian Prime Minister's Control Body about the SMR project, saying the original schedule was an estimate and citing IAEA site-review missions of 2022, 2024 and 2025.
· Application submitted
Application submitted: OTRERA ONE safety-options request #
ASNR states that Otrera filed a safety-options request on 30 July 2026 for OTRERA ONE, listed as a 200 MWth sodium-cooled industrial prototype. The page does not record an opinion or a creation authorization. This is not a sited project.
Announced · Announcement
Holtec Oyster Creek SMR proposal documented #
Company proposes four SMR-300 units with expected combined output of 1,360 MWe, gross/net unspecified. Approval of the former station decommissioning plan is not an SMR construction permit.
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