'We continue to invest in our future', says CEO of US SMR developer
NuScale Power Corporation, the US small modular reactor developer, said in a statement on 8 January that it is laying off 28%of its full-time staff to achieve annual savings of approximately $50m to $60m ($45m to $54m) and make the transition from SMR research and development to “commercialisation of its core business with a key objective for near term deployment and manufacturing.”
“We continue to invest in our future, including work needed for the near-term deployment of our SMR power plants powered by our 77 MW NuScale power modules,” John Hopkins, NuScale president and chief executive officer, said in the statement.
The company is going to undertake “strategic actions to better position itself commercially, financially, and strategically,” it added.
The reduction of 154 employees by NuScale follows the recent termination of an agreement NuScale had with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (Uamps), for an SMR project in Idaho. The company said it anticipates first quarter severance costs associated with the agreement termination of $3m.
NuScale and Uamps announced on 8 November that they were cancelling the project to build the first SMR plant in the US, saying they could not identify enough Uamps member power companies to take a share of the power from the planned 462-MW SMR plant in Utah.
In 2023, NuScale received design certification from the US Nuclear Regulatory commission for a 50 MW version of its SMR. It has also requested NRC approval of a 77 MW design now under agency review.
In a 16 November statement, reported on NucNet, Hopkins said that of the three conditions for the Uamps project to succeed, “It was the first of those three conditions – the level of subscription from Uamps customers – that led to the project cancellation.” The other two conditions included continued US government funding, and a price target on a per-MWh basis.
Following the announcement of the job losses, NuScale said it is years ahead of the competition with its SMRs currently in production at a world-class, dedicated manufacturing facility.
It remains the only technology provider and producer of SMRs that has obtained US regulatory approval and is ready for commercial deployment, the company also noted.
Additional reports in Huffington Post on 8 January stated that NuScale redundancies could reach up to 48% of its workforce, but the officially announced layoffs announced on that day remain at 28%.
As a result of the announcement, NuScale’s share price on the New York Stock Exchange fell 33% after the contract termination.
