SMR Structural & Cladding Materials Patent Snapshot
A small group of specialized SMR developers and national nuclear entities dominate this field, with the top five filers accounting for 82% of activity among the hundred largest filers. Filing volume has eased from its 2018 peak on an annual basis, though the multi-year window shows continued engagement from new entrants, particularly from South Korea.
SMR Inventec leads a tightly concentrated field of nine active filers
SMR Inventec LLC holds the top position with 8 patent families, followed closely by Thorizon Holding BV with 7 and BWXT mPower Inc and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. each with 6, making this one of the more concentrated specialist fields in nuclear technology.
The top five filers account for 82% of the combined output of the ranked applicants visible in this query — a concentration level that signals high barriers to entry and limited room for undifferentiated follow-on filings without direct confrontation with established portfolios.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMR Inventec LLC | 8 | |
| 2 | Thorizon Holding BV | 7 | |
| 3 | BWXT mPower Inc | 6 | |
| 4 | KOREA HYDRO & NUCLEAR POWER CO LTD | 6 | |
| 5 | Radiant Industries Inc | 5 | |
| 6 | Battelle Energy Alliance LLC | 4 | |
| 7 | Sejong University Industry-Academia Cooperation Group | 1 | |
| 8 | KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co. Ltd. | 1 | |
| 9 | Pusan National University Industry-University Cooperation Foundation | 1 |
The leaders’ positions reflect distinct reactor-design philosophies: SMR Inventec and Thorizon pursue molten-salt and modular reactor configurations, while BWXT mPower and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power focus on light-water and advanced fuel element designs, suggesting portfolio differentiation rather than head-on overlap.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and are likely undercounted; conclusions on recent entrants should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 and 2023; G21C dominates the technology mix
The annual trend chart reveals two surges — in 2018 and again in 2023 — separated by near-zero activity years, reflecting the project-cycle nature of SMR development rather than continuous incremental R&D. The technology composition chart shows near-total concentration in nuclear reactor classifications.
Annual filing trend
The 2018 surge (12 families) represents the earliest major cohort of SMR structural filings; a second wave appeared in 2023 (8 families). Years 2024–2026 show very low counts, consistent with publication lag rather than a cessation of activity — treat these as provisional.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
G21C (Nuclear reactors) accounts for the overwhelming majority of IPC-classified records, with a smaller presence in G21D (Nuclear power plants) and a single record in H01J (Electron and discharge tubes), which stands out as an adjacent outlier worth monitoring.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Modular nuclear reactors, fuel structures, and rel…
A modular nuclear reactor comprises a central portion comprising a plurality of structures. Each structure comprises a fuel material surrounded by an outer cladding material, the fuel material defining an annular space at a center portion of the fuel material, a heat pipe disposed in the annular space, and an inner cladding between the fuel material and the… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modular nuclear reactors, fuel structures, and rel… | 64 |
| 2 | Optimized nuclear fuel core design for a small mod… | 25 |
| 3 | SLIMM-Scalable Liquid Metal Cooled Small Modular R… | 24 |
| 4 | Modular core molten salt nuclear reactor | 10 |
| 5 | Modular nuclear reactors including fuel elements a… | 9 |
| 6 | Nuclear reactor system with lift-out core assembly | 7 |
| 7 | Nuclear reactor system with lift-out core assembly | 5 |
| 8 | Modular core molten salt nuclear reactor | 3 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
SMR Inventec LLC
SMR Inventec LLC leads with 8 patent families concentrated across G21C3 (fuel elements), G21C11 (reactor structures), and G21C9 (control elements), reflecting a comprehensive modular reactor structural architecture. Momentum data does not flag a recent surge, indicating a more established and stable filing posture rather than a new-entrant spike.
families: 8Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. holds 6 patent families, focused on G21C11 and G21C3, and is flagged as a new entrant in the momentum data — all 6 recent families represent a fresh entry into this corpus with no prior-period baseline. This trajectory signals a deliberate strategic push into SMR structural and cladding IP rather than an incremental portfolio extension.
families: 6Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 35 patent families. This is a relatively small, specialist field compared to broader nuclear reactor patent corpora, reflecting the early-to-maturing stage of SMR-specific structural and cladding IP development.
SMR Inventec LLC leads with 8 patent families, focused on G21C3 (fuel elements), G21C11 (reactor structures), and G21C9 (control elements). Thorizon Holding BV is the second-ranked filer with 7 patent families.
The lifecycle evidence classifies the field as mature, with annual filings having plateaued near their 2018 peak. A second activity pulse occurred in 2023. Filings from 2024 onward are subject to publication lag and should be treated as undercounted rather than as evidence of decline.
The United States is the primary jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT). South Korea and Canada are secondary jurisdictions. Freedom-to-operate analysis should cover at minimum U.S., EPO, and PCT family members for any commercially significant SMR structural component.
The evidence shows no recorded co-applicant filings in this corpus. All nine filers have built their portfolios independently. Korean university entrants — Sejong University and Pusan National University — are single-family filers with no recorded industrial co-filer to date.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., Radiant Industries Inc, KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co. Ltd., and Sejong University are all flagged as new entrants in the momentum data, meaning their recent filings represent a first appearance in this corpus with no prior-period baseline to compare against.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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