Department of Energy Outlines $450M Commercial Small Modular Reactor Matching Grants

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations published final funding criteria Thursday evening for a $450 million competitive grant program designed to accelerate the commercial licensing and domestic construction of advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

Advanced Nuclear Demonstration and Grid Decarbonization

Authorized under the ADVANCE Act (Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy), the cost-share initiative provides up to 50 percent federal matching capital for two distinct private consortiums proposing to build factory-fabricated light-water and high-temperature gas-cooled SMR designs. Qualifying projects must demonstrate signed power purchase agreements with industrial off-takers, such as steel mills, chemical refining complexes, or hyperscale computing campuses, providing continuous baseload, zero-carbon electricity.

Energy Secretary officials affirmed that advanced nuclear energy is indispensable for meeting surging domestic power demand while maintaining stringent grid reliability.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Licensing Streamlining

The funding initiative pairs capital grants with expedited Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) safety evaluation reviews for standardized factory reactor modules.

Nuclear energy trade associations and utility executives welcomed the funding, stating that federal cost-sharing reduces early-stage capital risk for first-of-a-kind commercial reactor deployments.

Proposal Submission Deadlines

Private engineering consortia and utility partners must submit final technical and financial applications to the DOE portal by November 16, 2026, with grant awards announced in early 2027.