Small modular reactors; compact, factory-built nuclear units meant to be cheaper and quicker to deploy than giant plants; are one of the most hyped ideas in energy. Most exist as designs and promises. China is about to have a working one. On Hainan island, CNNC’s Linglong One, or ACP100, is nearing completion as what is billed as the world’s first commercial land-based SMR to enter operation.[2]
The milestones are real and recent. First concrete was poured in July 2021, making it the first commercial onshore SMR to begin construction; cold functional testing finished in October 2025 and a non-nuclear steam test in December, with commercial operation targeted for the first half of 2026.[1][3] The reactor is rated at 125 megawatts and designed to do more than make electricity, heating, industrial steam and seawater desalination are all in scope.[1]
The West invented the modern SMR concept and led its design. China is the one about to plug one into the grid.
First mover, again
China’s lead here is one of execution, not invention. The ACP100 was, back in 2016, the first SMR design to clear a generic safety review by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a credential of genuine substance.[1] The contrast with the West is pointed: America’s most prominent SMR developer, NuScale, holds a certified design but saw its flagship US project cancelled in 2023 on cost grounds, leaving no comparable American plant under construction.
The honest qualifier is in the wording. The “first” claim needs its adjectives, first commercial, land-based, onshore SMR, because Russia already operates a floating SMR and other land-based projects began earlier and stalled. Within that precise frame, China is first.
The bottom line for capital
Linglong One matters less as a single 125-megawatt reactor than as proof that China can carry a next-generation nuclear concept from design review to operating plant while Western rivals are still contending with cancelled projects and financing gaps. If SMRs become the format that finally makes nuclear modular and repeatable, the industry’s long-held hope, China will have the first operating reference plant and the supply chain to iterate on it. The technology’s economics remain unproven everywhere, so this is a bet on a format, not a certainty; but China is once again first to turn the promise into an operating asset, and first movers gather the data that sets the standard.
| Ref | Publication | Date | Supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | World Nuclear News | Jan 2026 | Construction milestones, rating, uses, IAEA review |
| [2] | NucNet | Dec 2025 | First commercial land-based SMR to enter operation |
| [3] | CNNC | Apr 2025 | Cold functional testing and commissioning progress |
| [4] | Interesting Engineering | 2025 | Key test milestone for the land-based SMR |
References
- World Nuclear News, “Chinese SMR completes non-nuclear steam start up test,” Jan 2026. Read source ↗
- NucNet, “China’s Linglong-1 Set To Become First Land-Based SMR To Begin Operation,” Dec 2025. Read source ↗
- CNNC, “Main pump installed on Linglong One unit of Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant,” Apr 2025. Read source ↗
- Interesting Engineering, “World’s first land-based small modular nuclear reactor passes key test,” 2025. Read source ↗
Every source above is public and linked. This is a research brief from Singularity Dynamics; full briefings on this topic are available on request.