New Jersey Bets Big on Small Nuclear Reactors
By Haley Zaremba - Jul 17, 2026, 1:00 PM CDT
The newest frontier for the global nuclear renaissance is none other than New Jersey. This month, the state officially enacted a law launching a competitive procurement process to review and select a minimum of 1,100 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power. That power is set to come from next-generation nuclear power projects such as small modular reactors (SMRs), which have been receiving increasing attention on a global scale for their potential to scale at a relatively affordable price tag as compared to traditional large-scale fission reactors.
New Jersey already sources a large amount of its electricity from nuclear energy. At present, 40 percent of the state’s energy and 80 percent of its clean energy come from traditional nuclear power plants. But now the state wants to be at the vanguard of innovative next-gen nuclear rollouts as well. “Giving serious consideration to additional supplies of nuclear power would serve our energy needs,” said New Jersey Senator Burzichelli. “Advanced nuclear power is clean, reliable and strengthens our long-term energy security.”
The legally binding procurement process includes a strict review timeline for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) to compile and select expressions of interest for advanced nuclear technologies. A quick timeline is needed in order to keep up with the state’s ballooning energy needs, which are being driven up at a rapid clip thanks to the buildout of data centers and other energy-hungry infrastructure to support the growing tech sector.
“This new law is an important step toward increasing base load capacity, improving grid reliability, and ensuring our state has the energy needed to support residents, businesses, and economic growth,” Erick Ford, President of the New Jersey Energy Policy Coalition, wrote in a recent press release.
With the artificial intelligence boom demanding more and more energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week, building out round-the-clock, baseload clean power sources is more important than ever. Against this backdrop, nuclear is an increasingly obvious choice for its ability to produce constantly and at high capacity without producing greenhouse gas emissions. However, in the United States, the nuclear revolution has been hampered by extremely high development costs and miles of red tape. This is where SMRs come into the picture.
The emerging technology has a number of advantages as compared to traditional nuclear reactors. These smaller models can be built in a factory and then assembled on-site at a fraction of the cost. They also include passive safety features that make them safer than full-scale plants. Finally, their output can be easily and quickly manipulated. “This flexibility helps balance the power grid during extreme weather events, which often cause sudden disruptions to less resilient infrastructure,” highlights a recent report from Interesting Engineering.
The Trump administration has been particularly bullish on building out advanced nuclear technologies, including SMRs, in the United States as part of its aim to “ produce lasting American dominance in the global nuclear energy market.” Executive Order 14301, issued by Trump in May 2025, mobilizes resources from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program to accelerate the testing and commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies in order to bring them to scale.
However, some critics think that this focus is misguided and that a focus on next-gen technologies could be undermining Trump’s goal of quadrupling the nation’s nuclear energy production capacity by 2050. A recent op-ed for the Wall Street Journal argued that “The administration is chasing unproven technology when it could encourage Wall Street investment in large-scale reactors.”
Moreover, the Trump administration’s desire to keep America first when it comes to nuclear mobilization and innovation may be far too little, too late. China has been building nuclear capacity, including advanced technologies, at a breakneck pace, and is on track to overtake the United States and France to become the world’s largest producer of nuclear energy within the next decade.
“By a wide margin, China will have the world’s most dynamic and significant nuclear industry through 2035,” an analyst for Gavekal Technologies recently told the South China Morning Post. “Construction efficiencies mean China can build a new plant in about six years, compared with more than a decade for the latest Vogtle reactors in the US.”
New Jersey’s new law will no doubt be a winning strategy for the state’s own energy security and clean energy goals, but it is ultimately a drop in the bucket compared to the buildout being spearheaded by Beijing.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
