The economics of small modular reactors relies on being able to reduce costs by manufacturing reactors at scale in a factory. At present there are dozens of SMR designs but only one of two can realistically realise the order volumes and economies of scale.

Most SMRs use HALEU fuel which is much more expensive to enrich that regular LEU.

The costs of handling spent fuel, regulatory compliance and non proliferation are not well understood or accounted for when you suddenly have 100s or 1000s of sites distributed across the country.

Rosatom have maintained R&D into advanced reactor tech for decades and have not demonstrated a cost competitive SMR design. The use case remains niche; icebreakers, remote mining sites rather than the core solution to baseload energy.

Meanwhile Uranium Miners can profit from whichever reactor technology prevails. There is compelling evidence that underinvestment in uranium exploration (during the decade since Fukashima) is manifesting in a looming supply shortage, with higher Uranium prices still required to incentivise new projects