A company with Tri-Cities ties that specializes in advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology is taking "certain strategic actions to better position itself commercially, financially and strategically," including cutting about 28% of its full-time staff.

NuScale Power Corporation is based in Portland, Oregon, and has an office in Richland.

The staff reduction amounts to 154 full-time employees, the company announced in a statement.

It wasn't immediately clear how many Tri-Cities employees were affected.

The company said it's transitioning from research and development to commercialization and "aims to refocus resources in key strategic areas as part of its growth and to strengthen its position going forward." The strategic actions, including the staff cuts, are expected to result in $50 million to $60 million annualized savings, the company statement said.

First-quarter severance costs are expected to be about $3 million.

John Hopkins, NuScale president and chief executive officer, said in the statement that the company will continue to invest in the future, "including work needed for the near-term deployment of our SMR power plants powered by our 77 MWe NuScale Power Modules.”

He added that, “our U.S. Nuclear Regulatory-approved, industry-leading SMR technology is already many years ahead of the competition. Today, commercialization of our SMR technology is our key objective, which includes near-term deployment and manufacturing.”

The company is working to bring the first SMR plant online by 2030, its website says.