China has more than 20 small nuclear reactor start-ups. Should the US worry?

More than 20 Chinese start-ups are developing small modular reactors (SMRs) with ambitions to reshape the global energy landscape, according to the founder of one of the sector’s front runners.Hu Po, founder of Weilan NuEnergy, a Shanghai-based start-up betting on the technology, noted that in 2024, as the artificial intelligence boom drove up energy demand, nuclear power – particularly SMRs – began to attract substantial capital in the United States.Hu said that in China, the start-up teams had emerged rapidly since 2025.