How to buy NuScale Power (SMR) stock from India

Yes, an Indian resident can buy NuScale Power — legally, in US dollars, under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). SMR trades on NYSE. It pays no dividend. NuScale is the first small modular reactor design to receive NRC Design Certification in the United States — which is a genuine achievement. But the company's flagship project was cancelled in 2023, it is pre-revenue, and its second-chance thesis depends on data-center nuclear demand materialising in its favour. This is a speculative position, sized accordingly.

The 30-second version

• Legal and simple. Buy SMR via Vested, INDmoney, or Interactive Brokers India.
• No dividend. No US withholding or Form 44 complexity.
• India tax: hold more than 24 months → 12.5% LTCG; shorter hold → slab rate. Section 112.
• Estate-tax trap: US-situs asset — above $60,000 of total US-situs assets, up to 40% US estate tax, no treaty relief.
• The honest framing: NuScale has genuine intellectual property — the only NRC-certified SMR design in the US. But the UAMPS project cancellation (November 2023) nearly ended the company, and costs remain high relative to alternatives. The data-center nuclear demand narrative is a real second chance, but non-binding LOIs (even a large one with Standard Power for 2,280 MW) are not revenue. Size SMR at 1–2% of a nuclear portfolio at most.

Quick facts

Can an Indian resident buy it?	Yes — fully legal under the LRS
Ticker / exchange	SMR / NYSE
How	IBKR, Rovia, INDmoney, or Vested
Minimum	A fraction of one share
Dividend	None
India tax on gains	12.5% LTCG after 24 months; else your slab (Section 112)
Estate-tax risk	US-situs above $60k → up to 40%, no treaty relief
Annual compliance	Schedule FA every year you hold

How to buy it — 3 steps

1. Open an account and finish KYC. Use IBKR for the widest access and best execution, Rovia for a combined RSU + LRS experience, or INDmoney / Vested for a simple India-funded flow.
2. Fund via the LRS. Cap: $250,000/year. 20% TCS above ₹7 lakh — creditable against income tax.
3. Place the order. SMR is highly volatile — it moves 20–40% on individual nuclear news items, DOE grant announcements, and data-center nuclear deal rumours. Never put a meaningful allocation in at a single price; if you want the position, scale in over months.

What NuScale actually is

NuScale Power developed the VOYGR SMR — a 77 MW electric small modular boiling water reactor. The design is factory-fabricated (modules manufactured in a factory, shipped by truck and rail, assembled on-site) and passively safe (no external power needed for safety shutdown). Plants come in 4-module (308 MW), 6-module (462 MW), or 12-module (924 MW) configurations.

The NRC Design Certification (January 2023) is the legitimising milestone — NuScale's SMR is the first design to complete the full NRC review process. This means any US utility or developer that wants to build a VOYGR plant has a pre-approved design to work from, rather than starting from a new licensing process.

The UAMPS cancellation (November 2023): The Carbon Free Power Project — a 6-module VOYGR plant in Idaho with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems — was terminated when levelised cost estimates rose from ~$58/MWh at inception to ~$89/MWh and insufficient UAMPS members subscribed to the power. NuScale laid off ~30% of staff and restructured.

The second-chance thesis: Standard Power (a data center company) signed a non-binding LOI for 24 VOYGR-12 plants across Ohio and Pennsylvania — 2,280 MW total. Data centers need 24/7 carbon-free power; NuScale's modular design could site reactors adjacent to data center campuses. Non-binding; no financing secured; no NRC combined licence application filed yet.

Cash burn: $200M+/year. DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and other grants partially fund operations. The runway is real but requires continued government support and at least one binding customer contract to prove commercial viability.

The tax that actually matters

No dividend means a clean capital-gains picture:

Holding period	Treatment	Rate
24 months or less	Short-term	Your slab rate
More than 24 months	Long-term	12.5%, no indexation

Full rules: how US stocks are taxed in India.

The $60,000 estate-tax trap

Directly-held SMR is a US-situs asset. Above $60,000 of total US-situs holdings at death, US estate tax of up to 40% — no India-US treaty protection. See the estate-tax trap guide.

Buy SMR, or get nuclear exposure with less binary risk?

If you want…	Best route
NRC-certified SMR speculative bet	SMR (1–2% of nuclear portfolio maximum)
Nuclear components with defense moat (profitable today)	BWXT (BWX Technologies)
Nuclear utility with AI power demand	CEG (Constellation Energy)
Full nuclear investment picture	Nuclear stocks guide for Indian investors