The European Commission (EC) has selected nine small modular reactor (SMR) projects in its initial round of applications to form Project Working Groups under the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs. The EC launched the Alliance in February in order to facilitate the development of SMRs in Europe by the early 2030s.
The Alliance, a collaborative public-private platform, works through working groups to improve the conditions for the development and deployment of SMRs, including rebuilding the supply chain for nuclear power. The activities aim to support specific SMR projects and accelerate their deployment on the European market.
According to the EC, the initial membership call elicited responses from more than 300 stakeholders, including SMR technology designers, utilities, energy-intensive users, supply chain companies, research institutes, financial institutions, and civil society organisations. The Alliance members and its governing board were confirmed at the inaugural General Assembly in Brussels in May.
In June the Alliance received 22 applications in response to a call for SMR projects wishing to be considered for the Project Working Groups (PWGs). At the second meeting of the governing board earlier in October, the first batch of SMR projects were selected. They include: EU-SMR-LFR project (Ansaldo Nucleare, SCK-CEN, ENEA, RATEN); CityHeat project (Calogena, Steady Energy); Project Quantum (Last Energy); European LFR AS Project (Newcleo); Nuward (EDF); European BWRX-300 SMR (OSGE); Rolls-Royce SMR (Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd); NuScale VOYGR SMR (RoPower Nuclear SA); and Thorizon One project (Thorizon).
The selected projects will not receive direct funding from the Alliance. However, the PWGs, will provide the opportunity to foster collaboration among various stakeholders, such as SMR developers, regulators, and supply chain entities, ensuring that technical, regulatory, and logistical challenges are addressed efficiently. “Each of these projects will have the opportunity to constitute a PWG involving all partners interested in collaboration with the project,” the EC said. Most of the other projects that applied in the first assessment round and were not selected will have the opportunity to submit a new application in the next round, which is expected to be organised in the second quarter of 2025.
The selected technologies include two lead-cooled fast reactors, five pressurised water reactors (PWRs), one boiling water reactor (BWR), and one molten salt reactor (MSR). Applications include power generation, district heating, and industrial uses.
The EU-SMR-LFR (Ansaldo Nucleare, SCK-CEN, ENEA, RATEN) is one of the lead-cooled fast reactor projects. The FALCON consortium, led by Ansaldo Nucleare includes Italy’s ENEA, the Romanian Institute for Nuclear Research – RATEN, and Belgian research organisation SCK-CEN. Ansaldo says the ALFRED project “aims at the development of an advanced fourth-generation nuclear reactor, modular and smaller in size than the generations currently in operation, fast-neutron and lead-cooled, the first example of which could be put into operation from 2040”. The development path includes construction of two demonstration prototypes (LEANDREA and FALCON) designed to validate the technological choices, which will be built in Belgium and Romania respectively.
Ansaldo Nucleare noted that the four future partners Ansaldo Nucleare, ENEA, RATEN and SCK-CEN have signed a collaboration agreement with newcleo, the other selected lead-cooled fast reactor design. “This will launch discussions to see how we can work together and where the two consortiums can collaborate on LFR technology. By joining forces, we are enhancing our shared commitment to innovation and sustainability within the nuclear sector and can further promote the development of fast reactor technology in Europe.”
Newcleo, launched in 2021 has outlined an ambitious roadmap for its European LFR AS lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) design. This targets a first-of-a-kind 30 MWe LFR to be deployed in France by 2030, followed by a 200 MWe commercial unit in the UK by 2033. At the same time, newcleo says it will directly invest in a mixed uranium/plutonium oxide (mox) plant to fuel its reactors.
As a supported technology, newcleo says its PWG will benefit from working closely with the array of the Alliance’s technical working groups including those on skills, fuel, R&D, supply chain, and financing. Newcleo describes itself as “the fastest growing nuclear start up in Europe whose business now counts over 90 partnerships, and more than 850 employees based in 19 locations across France, Italy, the UK, Switzerland, and Slovakia, including three manufacturing facilities.” Since 2021 the company has raised a total of over €535m from institutional and individual investors with a growing funding base, which to date counts over 700 shareholders.
The five PWR projects are being developed by Finland’s Steady with France’s Calogena, US-based Last Energy, France’s Nuward, UK’s Rolls Royce SMR, and US NuScale.
Finnish nuclear startup Steady Energy has developed the LDR-50, a 50-MW PWR operating at low temperatures for district heating, industrial steam production, and desalination projects. Calogena is offering a 30 MWt light water reactor that can be integrated into existing district heating networks. Steady Energy plans to start building a pilot plant in Finland next year to test its functionality and project management capabilities.
Last Energy is developing a 20 MWe “plug and play” micromodular plant (PWR-20), with ambitious goals to build 10,000 units within the next 15 years. The company is targeting key markets in Poland, Romania, and the UK. In October 2023, Last Energy showcased a full-scale nuclear island prototype, fabricated in just five weeks, using a Polish engineering, procurement, and construction supply chain.
Nuward (EDF) was spearheading development of a 340-MWe PWR technology that would feature two reactors of 170 MWe each using France’s experience in PWRs. EDF launched Nuward in 2019, EDF in 2023 established its development under a dedicated subsidiary. However, in July, EDF withdrew Nuward from Great British Nuclear’s (GBN’s) SMR selection contest and subsequently decided to focus on existing technologies for the design of its SMRs instead of continuing with the Nuward design.
Rolls-Royce SMR is developing a 470 MWe PWR, which features a “factory-built” plant. In September, the Czech Republic picked the Rolls-Royce SMR as the preferred supplier for its SMR programme with the aim of deploying the first SMR at the Temelín NPP by the 2030s. Rolls-Royce SMR was also shortlisted by Vattenfall for a project to deploy SMRs at the Ringhals NPP in the 2030s. Rolls Royce SMR is one of four shortlisted technologies for the GBN competition.
NuScale’s VOYGR SMR is seeking to deploy its first NuScale 462-MWe VOYGR-6 in Romania by 2029. NuScale in November 2023 faced problems when its $1.4bn project to build a plant for a Utah power provider was cancelled amid spiralling costs. Earlier in October it was dropped from the shortlisted technologies for GBN’s SMR competition. A spokesman for NuScale said the company had been told it did not meet the criteria for the SMR competition as it had already begun production of its reactors and did not need support getting to market.
US-based GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 SMR is the only boiling water reactor selected by the EC. Poland’s ORLEN Synthos Green Energy (OSGE), in partnership with GE-Hitachi, leads the European BWRX-300 SMR initiative, which has support from 17 companies across 11 countries. The BWRX-300 is a 300-MW BWR that derives from the Gen III+ 1,520-MW ESBWR, which the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified in 2014. In 2023, Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment issued permits for six potential sites, with plans for up to 24 reactors. The BWRX-300 is one of GBN’s four shortlisted technologies
The only molten salt reactor design selected by the EC is from Netherlands-based Thorizon, a spin-off from Dutch nuclear institute NRG. Thorizon aims to construct a pilot reactor system before 2035. Thorizon One will provide 250 MWt of industrial heat, which can be directly used in industrial processes for the chemical industry or hydrogen production. Alternatively, it can produce 100 MWe to provide electricity. The molten salt fuel adopted by Thorizon uses a combination of long-lived elements from reprocessed used fuel and thorium. The reactor will be able to recycle long-lived waste from existing nuclear facilities.
In September, Dutch and French nuclear regulators agreed to collaborate on a preparatory review of its Thorizon One molten salt reactor project. The aim is to present simultaneously to both authorities the Thorizon One reactor ahead of pre-licence applications expected in both countries at the same time in 2025. Kiki Lauwers CEO of Thorizon said: “We are very proud that our project has received this special endorsement from the European Commission, and we are excited that the benefits of molten salt reactor technology are being recognised.”
