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Small modular reactors (SMRs) could supply data centers through the grid, a co-located plant, or a dedicated arrangement, but they are not a ready-made replacement for utility power. A reactor would still need regulatory approval, financing, construction, fuel, an operating license, outage planning and spent-fuel management. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says broad commercial deployment of new reactor designs is more likely in the 2030s than immediately.
The opportunity is driven by rapidly rising electricity demand from computing. Whether a particular data-center campus should use an SMR depends on its load size, required in-service date, transmission availability, licensing status, financing and contingency power—not on the “modular” label alone.
Can an SMR power a data center?
Yes, in principle. An SMR converts nuclear heat into electricity, just as a conventional nuclear plant does, and that electricity can serve a data center directly or flow through the wider grid. The reactor can be sized for a campus, a group of facilities or a utility service territory.
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“Could” is important. A proposed reactor is not operating capacity. A data center cannot count planned megawatts as dependable supply until the project has completed licensing, construction, testing and fuel loading, and has demonstrated that it can deliver electricity under an approved operating regime. Even then, the data center normally needs switching equipment, backup generation, batteries or other arrangements for reactor outages and grid disturbances.
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Nuclear generation is generally described as firm power: it can run continuously rather than depending on sunlight or wind conditions. Planned refueling outages can be scheduled, but the operating history of an advanced design may be limited when a first commercial unit begins service. A general nuclear capacity factor or a developer’s availability target is not a guarantee for an individual data center.
Why data-center electricity demand is driving interest
The demand numbers are large, but they are forecasts from different reports and horizons, not measurements of current consumption. DOE’s December 2024 summary of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2024 report estimated that U.S. data centers used 176 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023, about 4.4% of U.S. electricity. The same report projected 325–580 TWh in 2028, or approximately 6.7%–12% of U.S. electricity.
DOE’s resource hub summarizes an LBNL 2025 update with a central estimate that data centers could account for 11.8% of U.S. electricity in 2030, with scenarios ranging from 9.5% to 15.3%. DOE notes that those estimates do not directly account for potential growth in grid or on-site energy supply. The 2028 and 2030 figures therefore should not be added together or presented as observed demand.
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| Figure | What it represents | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 176 TWh | U.S. data-center electricity use in 2023 | LBNL 2024 report, summarized by DOE in December 2024; historical estimate |
| 325–580 TWh | Projected U.S. data-center electricity use in 2028 | LBNL 2024 report; forecast, approximately 6.7%–12% of U.S. electricity |
| 11.8% | Central estimate of U.S. electricity share in 2030 | LBNL 2025 update summarized by DOE; scenarios range from 9.5% to 15.3% |
A reactor project takes years, so a developer must compare its delivery date with the data center’s construction schedule. A campus opening in two years cannot rely on a reactor whose operating license is still pending, even if the long-term load forecast makes nuclear generation attractive.
Three ways an SMR could connect to a data center
1. Grid-connected generation
The reactor sells electricity to the grid, and the data center buys power through a utility contract or other market arrangement. This is the most familiar regulatory model because the plant is treated as a power station serving multiple customers.
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- Advantages: existing transmission and utility controls can serve the load; the data center does not have to own or operate a nuclear facility; and other generators can cover reactor maintenance.
- Questions: Is transmission capacity available at the required location? What tariff, interconnection study and capacity commitment apply? Does the contract deliver physical power, financial hedging or renewable/nuclear attributes?
2. Co-location on or near a data-center campus
A reactor and data center may share a site or an industrial area, reducing some transmission requirements. The arrangement still needs electrical protection, independent safety boundaries, emergency planning and clear ownership of each facility.
Co-location does not automatically make the campus energy-independent. Engineers must specify how the data center receives power during reactor startup, a planned refueling outage, an unplanned trip or a grid event. Metering must show which electricity is generated on site and which comes from the utility.
3. Dedicated or behind-the-meter supply
A dedicated reactor could be connected primarily to one customer, subject to applicable regulation and engineering rules. DOE identifies behind-the-meter arrangements as an area with unresolved policy and customer-cost concerns. Regulators may require the customer to pay for grid services that it still uses, such as standby capacity, voltage support, transmission access or emergency backup.
A contract should state who pays for interconnection equipment, security, control systems, insurance, decommissioning and replacement power. It should also explain whether the data center can draw from the grid when the reactor is unavailable and whether the utility can curtail or interrupt service.
What “small modular reactor” covers
SMR is a category, not one machine. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in its review of commercial SMR and microreactor designs under development as of February 2026, describes several reactor families. Coolant, moderator, fuel and thermal operating conditions affect the plant’s equipment, supply chain, licensing case and potential use at a data center.
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| Design family | Basic characteristic | Data-center implication |
|---|---|---|
| Light-water reactor | Uses ordinary water as coolant and moderator; often resembles a scaled-down conventional reactor | Uses a comparatively familiar technology base, but still requires project-specific licensing, construction and fuel arrangements |
| High-temperature gas reactor | Uses gas coolant and operates at high temperatures | May offer high-temperature process heat as well as electricity, with different materials and fuel requirements |
| Molten-salt reactor | Uses molten salt as coolant, with designs varying in fuel and configuration | Requires a licensing and operating record appropriate to the particular design; “molten salt” alone does not establish performance |
| Sodium-cooled reactor | Uses liquid sodium coolant | Needs specialized systems, materials, safety analysis and supply-chain planning |
| Microreactor | Generally smaller than an SMR, although definitions and output ranges vary | May suit remote or smaller industrial loads, but output and fuel logistics must be matched to the campus |
Some advanced designs use high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). EIA defines HALEU as uranium enriched above the level used in most current U.S. reactors and below 20% uranium-235. Fuel requirements vary: it is incorrect to assume that every SMR needs HALEU. A project using HALEU must demonstrate a dependable fuel supply, transport plan and regulatory compliance.
Match reactor output to the data center’s actual load
Data centers range from facilities drawing tens of megawatts to campuses approaching gigawatt scale, according to DOE. A single reactor size cannot fit every project. The design study should begin with the electrical load shape rather than a reactor vendor’s nameplate output.
- Base load: the minimum continuous demand for servers, cooling, networking, security and building systems.
- Peak load: the highest expected demand, including expansion phases and extreme weather.
- Growth curve: when each building, computing hall and cooling system will energize.
- Power quality: allowable voltage and frequency variation, ride-through time and requirements for instantaneous transfer.
- Outage coverage: the duration for which batteries, generators, the grid or another reactor must carry the load.
A reactor can be sized below the ultimate campus peak if the grid or other generators cover the difference. Conversely, a large reactor may be uneconomic or technically awkward for a small first phase. The electrical design should model partial-load operation, staged construction and the possibility that computing demand changes faster than the nuclear project.
Reliability: firm generation still needs backup
“24/7 nuclear power” should be read as a potential source of continuous generation, not a promise that a data center will never need backup. Nuclear plants shut down for planned maintenance and can trip unexpectedly. A data center’s reliability architecture may include utility service, redundant substations, batteries, diesel or gas generators, flywheels, demand controls and contracts for replacement power.
The nuclear and data-center control systems also have different safety and cybersecurity requirements. A project must define the electrical point of common coupling, protection settings, emergency shutdown behavior and communications boundaries. The data center should be able to fail safely without compromising reactor safety, and the reactor should remain within its licensed envelope if the computing load suddenly drops.
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Where deployments stand
DOE’s expected timetable
DOE says licensing, demonstration and deployment of next-generation reactors will take years and places widespread commercial reactors in the 2030s. That is a sector-level outlook, not an operating date for every announced project. A proposal should be labeled planned, proposed or under development until a regulator and project owner establish the relevant milestone.
TVA, Kairos Power and Google arrangement
The announced Tennessee Valley Authority–Kairos Power–Google arrangement depends on planned Hermes 2 generation. The Associated Press reported an expected 2030 start for the planned advanced reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, supporting Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama. The same report said Hermes 2 had received a construction permit but still needed further regulatory steps, including an operating license. The arrangement is therefore evidence of a proposed supply pathway, not proof that a commercial SMR is already powering those data centers.
DOE GAIN vouchers
In September 2024, DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) announcement documented vouchers for technical work on microreactor designs and for identifying potential sites for nuclear-powered data centers. The vouchers provide access to national-laboratory capabilities; DOE stated that recipients do not receive direct financial awards. This is research and site-development activity, not operating generation.
Existing large reactors are a different pathway
DOE has also pointed to the Microsoft–Constellation agreement to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1 for data-center operations. That proposal concerns restarting an existing large reactor, not deploying an SMR. A data-center energy plan should keep existing-plant restarts, new large reactors, SMRs and microreactors in separate categories because their licensing, construction and operating histories differ.
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Licensing and schedule risk
A project needs approvals for the design, site, construction and operation, followed by testing and fuel-related permissions. A target year in a press release is not an approved in-service schedule. The procurement contract should include milestones, delay remedies and a temporary power plan.
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First-project capital and financing
DOE identifies high upfront capital costs as a barrier to first deployments. Factory fabrication and modular construction are intended by developers to improve cost and schedule, but those benefits have not been proven uniformly across designs. The sources reviewed do not provide comparable cost estimates for different SMR concepts, so a buyer should demand a project-specific cost model rather than rely on a generic “lower cost” claim.
Fuel availability
Fuel enrichment, fabrication, transport and storage must be demonstrated for the chosen design. If HALEU is required, the project needs a documented supply path and schedule. A reactor with an attractive design cannot operate without qualified fuel delivered under the applicable rules.
Grid and co-location rules
Transmission studies, interconnection rights, standby service, metering and responsibility for grid-support costs should be resolved before the site is selected. Behind-the-meter treatment may shift costs to other customers if the arrangement still relies on the grid; regulators and utilities will determine what is permitted.
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Spent fuel requires cooling and storage while a longer-term disposal pathway is established. The lifecycle plan should identify interim storage, transport, financial responsibility, decommissioning funding and the condition of the site after the data center closes. These obligations do not disappear because a reactor is small or factory-built.
How to evaluate an SMR proposal for a data center
- Define the load. Record current megawatts, peak demand, expansion phases, power-quality limits and the minimum service level during an outage.
- Verify the reactor status. Identify the regulator, design-approval stage, site permit, construction permit, operating-license status and any unresolved safety or environmental reviews.
- Check deliverable output. Request net electric output at the planned site, not only thermal rating or nameplate capacity, and state the conditions under which that output is available.
- Map the electrical arrangement. Draw the connection to the utility, reactor, substations, batteries and backup generators. Assign ownership, metering points, protection responsibilities and grid-service payments.
- Test the schedule. Compare the reactor’s licensing and construction milestones with each data-center energization date. Specify replacement power if the reactor slips.
- Audit fuel and waste plans. Confirm fuel type, enrichment, supplier, delivery schedule, spent-fuel storage and decommissioning responsibilities.
- Model outages and failures. Simulate refueling, forced outages, reactor trips, transmission loss, cooling-system failure and sudden load reduction. Record the duration and capacity of each backup source.
- Review financing evidence. Separate a binding contract, committed capital and an announced intention. Require assumptions for construction cost, interest, insurance, escalation and delay.
- Obtain independent review. Use qualified nuclear, electrical, legal and utility advisers before treating a proposal as firm capacity.
What a realistic adoption path looks like
For a new campus, the practical sequence is usually a grid connection or other temporary supply first, followed by a nuclear option that becomes available after licensing and construction. The data center can reserve land and transmission capacity while the reactor project advances, but it should not retire redundant generation until the reactor has demonstrated reliable operation.
Large campuses may eventually combine several sources: utility power for flexibility, an SMR for firm generation, batteries for fast response and conventional generators for emergency service. That portfolio can reduce dependence on any one asset, but it adds controls, contracts and regulatory interfaces.
The central decision is therefore not “Are SMRs good for data centers?” It is “Does this specific licensed, financed and fuel-secured project deliver the required net power at the required site and date, with a credible outage and waste plan?” Until the answer is documented, an SMR remains a potential supply option rather than guaranteed capacity.
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