A EUROPEAN ROADMAP | SMRS & ADVANCED REACTORS
Paving the way for SMRs
With around 100 small modular reactor (SMR) designs in active development globally, what is actually needed to take European projects from concept to construction?
By Caroline Peachey
GROWING ENERGY-SECURITY CONCERNS and Europe’s 2050 net-zero target are driving a surge of investment in small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced reactors. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s Small Modular Reactor Dashboard, published in February 2025, shows $15.4bn invested worldwide, of which $5.4bn came from private sources. Although most of this capital comes from the US, European investments are scaling up. The UK-US Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear
Energy, agreed in mid-September, has already triggered several commercial agreements to build SMR fleets in Britain. However, as designs shift from research and development into early commercial projects, Europe will need a concerted and collaborative approach to achieve widespread deployment. The European SMR Alliance, a network of 350 industry, academic and policy stakeholders, has released a five-year plan of activities aimed at demonstrating and deploying SMRs across Europe by the early 2030s. That plan lists 10 priority actions from mapping the non-electricity market demand, to revitalising supply chains, boosting R&D/skills, unlocking finance and streamlining regulation. Additional work streams cover financing models, public outreach, fuel-cycle logistics and safety/security standards.
Europe’s SMR landscape Amid growing interest in nuclear energy, several European nations have committed to ambitious new nuclear build programmes and many include a vision for SMRs (see map on page 9). The Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and the UK have all
signed agreements to develop and deploy small reactors; several commercial contracts are now under way. Romania’s RoPower Nuclear has signed front-end engineering and design contracts for a six-unit NuScale VOYGR power plant (462 MWe) at the former Doicești coal plant, with a final investment decision slated for early 2027. Rolls-Royce has been selected to build the UK’s first
SMR following a two-year competition. Great British Energy - Nuclear aims to allocate a site later this year with grid connection expected in the mid-2030s. Czech utility ČEZ has picked the same 470 MWe Rolls-
Royce design to provide up to 3 GWe of capacity at the Temelín site and is also targeting startup in the mid-2030s. Vattenfall is evaluating building either three RR-SMRs or five of GE Veranova’s BWRX-300 units on the Värö Peninsula, near Sweden’s existing Ringhals nuclear plant. France, where nuclear accounts for around two-thirds of electricity generation, is also looking to SMRs as part of its France 2030 plan. The French Government has earmarked
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more than €500m for the Nuward SMR, a 400 MWe integral PWR being developed by an EDF subsidiary. In Sweden, Uniper and Blykalla are progressing the
70 MW SEALER fast-reactor at Oskarshamn (with an electrical prototype under construction). Start-up Steady Energy has signed agreements with three Finnish utilities considering its 50 MWt LDR-50 (a PWR) for district heating. Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment has given decisions-in-principle for six GEV BWRX-300 SMRs; Orlen Synthos Green Energy plans the first unit will be at Włocławek in north-central Poland. Estonia-based Fermi Energia is also planning a
600 MWe BWRX-300 plant for completion by the early 2030s, tracking progress of the pilot unit, currently under construction at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site in Canada.
Barriers to SMR deployment? Despite strong drivers, Europe still faces four main barriers to SMR deployment: financing, licensing, supply chain readiness and workforce. Efforts are underway to address these, but more still needs to be done – and the timeline is tight. The European SMR Alliance says the timely deployment of SMRs is “crucial for maintaining the competitiveness of European industry, driving the energy transition towards a carbon- neutral future by 2050, and enhancing the EU’s strategic autonomy in the energy sector”. George Borovas, Partner at international law firm
Hunton Andrews Kurth, points to financing and supply chain availability as chief obstacles. “Many SMR developers in Europe rely on private funds. However, public funding mechanisms either at a national or the EU level are limited to support deployment,” Borovas tells NEi. He acknowledges, though, that more ways are emerging through various national/EU policies and initiatives, marking a “step in the right direction”.
Below: Several European countries aim to deploy small modular reactors in the 2030s. Credit: daphnusia images / Shutterstock.
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