Industrial alliance on small nuclear reactors, EU opens enrollment. Strategic plan by 2025

Brussels – A strategic plan and ten goals to reach 2030 with the first European-made modular nuclear reactors: Brussels today (Feb. 9) launched a call for applications to participate in the future European Industrial Alliance for Small Modular Reactors, which will be operational in the coming months.

The initiative was confirmed on Tuesday by Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson along with the intermediate climate target to 2040, emphasizing the potential of nuclear power among low-carbon technologies that can help the EU cut emissions. The call will remain open until April 12, but the Commission says there will be further calls. The purpose of the Industry Alliance is to bring together governments, industry players, and stakeholders seeking to accelerate the development of the sector, noting a growing interest of several member states in nuclear technologies.

The idea is to arrive in 2030 with the first European-made modular reactor. Small modular reactors are smaller in both power and physical size than conventional gigawatt-scale power plants, ranging from 10 to 300 MegaWatts. They are based on existing technologies and are designed to be factory-built in standard modular form, and their main advantage is that they can be assembled at the factory and then shipped and installed on-site, thus even in remote areas with limited grid capacity or in areas where the use of large conventional nuclear power plants is not possible.

On March 21, the European Commission will host an “outreach” event on the Industrial Alliance, on the sidelines of the Nuclear Energy Submit to be held in Brussels, and the first meeting of the General Assembly will be organized between May and June. According to indications, the Alliance is expected to develop a Strategic Action Plan in the first quarter of 2025 to achieve ten goals, including “mapping and regularly monitoring the European supply chain,” identifying “future research, innovation, and qualification needs”, and “facilitating the creation of a nuclear skills Academy and identifying future skills and skills development needs.”

An EU Industrial Alliance on small nuclear reactors has been talked about in Brussels for months now. The European Commission notes a growing interest of several member states in nuclear technologies and their potential role in achieving climate neutrality goals by mid-century and has promised the launch of a true alliance with industrial parties to fully exploit the potential of small nuclear reactors. According to the last available Eurostat data, nuclear power plants generated about 21.8 per cent of the total electricity generated in the EU in 2022 and there were 13 countries with operational reactors (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden).