SMRs aren't a complete jump into the dark. They've been powering some ships and subs for years.
One of their big attractions is the potential to build much of equipment in factory conditions in order to minimise the amount of site assembly. Not quite production line stuff but close. Think of what goes into a gas turbine power power station and how long it takes to build one and you are going in the right direction although I accept that nuclear will be more complicated. Nonetheless, SMRs should be a lot faster to implement than the big nuclear plants. If the NIMBYs are willing to have one near their home then they could have a cheap source of heating using the waste heat.