NuScale Power is closing in on the step that can turn a paper project into a construction site: signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 6-gigawatt small modular reactor plant in the eastern United States. Management aims to close the deal by the end of 2026.
The agreement involves the Tennessee Valley Authority and is currently largely non-binding. The PPA would commit the utility to buy the project’s electricity at a pre-agreed price for years, possibly decades. It is the revenue guarantee needed to start construction. In May, the CEO said that ENTRA1, NuScale’s financial partner that would formally sign the contract with TVA, describes the talks as advancing toward a definitive agreement.
The technology is built around the Power Modules: factory-built light-water reactors. Each module produces 77 MWe, and multiple modules can be combined into arrays of up to 924 MWe, enough energy for roughly 700,000 homes, or for data centers and industrial facilities. NuScale is the only SMR developer with a design certified by the NRC, the US nuclear regulator. It is a concrete credential to offer buyers seeking continuous, emissions-free electricity.
The broader context points in the same direction. Operators of AI data centers need large amounts of reliable power, and the grid is not growing at the same pace. On October 6, Google and Constellation Energy announced a long-term agreement that funds power uprates at reactors already operating on the PJM grid. The deal does not involve SMRs, but it has reignited investor interest: that day NuScale gained about 7%, along with Oklo and NANO Nuclear Energy. On the policy side, Washington has set a goal of quadrupling nuclear capacity by 2050 and supports the development of microreactors and SMRs.
In recent weeks the company has also delivered operational results: nuclear-specific artificial intelligence tools developed with Nuclearn and NPX, which in early tests cut the time needed to retrieve engineering information by up to 80%; boron oxide safety pellets with MillenniTEK; and a contract with Paragon for the integrated protection system. The stock is trading around $6, and the next milestone is the quarterly earnings report on November 5. Analysts put the average price target at $11.77.
If the TVA PPA arrives by December, the 6 GW project can move into the licensing phase and become the benchmark for the first large commercial SMR orders in North America. For Italy, which is reopening the nuclear file and looking at modular reactors, that contract would be a concrete test of what it takes to bring this technology from design to market.
