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round up
SMRS BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER Rumen Radev and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš have agreed to establish a joint working group on energy with a specific focus on small modular reactors (SMRs). The deal was reached during an official visit by Babiš to Sofia, following a preliminary meeting held in July at the Nato summit in Ankara, Türkiye.
US STARTUP BLUE ENERGY has submitted the first part of its application for a building permit to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its gas-to-nuclear project at the Port of Victoria in Texas. To meet immediate energy needs, the campus will initially be powered by natural gas starting in 2028. Later, the infrastructure will be seamlessly converted to nuclear energy starting around 2032, adding up to five GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 SMRs.
CHINA ATOMIC ENERGY Authority has launched the Global Network for SMR Innovation (GNSI) during a side event hosted by China at the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, under the theme Cooperating in SMR Innovation for a Shared Future. The network is designed to support SMR use in beyond conventional electricity applications, including offshore power generation, high-temperature hydrogen production, district heating systems and desalination.
THAILAND IS FORMALLY preparing the regulatory, industrial, and workforce frameworks for SMRs to bolster its long-term energy security. The Nuclear Energy for Peace Commission approved a policy framework that aligns national standards with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). An assessment of the nuclear energy infrastructure against 19 IAEA requirements found that Thailand is already prepared in ten areas.
US STARTUP ONE NUCLEAR Energy has moved Project Amberjack, an up-to-1GWe SMR campus in Louisiana, into the technical and environmental evaluation phase. This standalone, scalable development is part of the company’s broader 5GWe Louisiana Portfolio, which also includes two natural-gas and battery storage initiatives, namely Project Cayman and Project Barracuda. According to the company initial nuclear siting and constraints analyses are complete.
SWITZERLAND-BASED GLOBAL engineering company ABB and Rolls-Royce SMR have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on scaling up SMR production using a standardised, factory-built deployment model. ABB will integrate its specialised automation, electrification, instrumentation, and communication technologies to help move the reactor design into a highly scalable, repeatable fleet production model.
14 | October 2026 |
www.neimagazine.com
China Ground-breaking for Helong-2 fusion ENN Fusion (also known as Xin’ao Fusion) has broken ground for the construction of its Spherical Torus Hydrogen-Boron Plasma Platform (the Helong-2 device) in China’s Langfang Economic & Technological Development Zone. The project covers an area of eight hectares and focuses on the construction of more than ten core systems to create a world-leading experimental platform for hydrogen-boron fusion. Helong-2 is being built by China Construction
First Group Construction and Development Company. The site is expected to be ready for equipment installation by the end of June 2027, with device construction and commissioning to be completed and the experimental phase to begin by the end of 2027. The goal is to achieve the first ignition of hydrogen-boron fusion by 2030. In 2017, ENN Group (Xin’ao) officially expanded its scientific research and development (R&D) scope from low-carbon technologies to zero- carbon energy. They became the first private enterprise in China to build a dedicated, heavily funded programme targeting commercial spherical torus hydrogen-boron fusion. This 2017 pivot laid the groundwork for their consecutive milestones— developing their phase-by-phase commercial roadmap in 2018 and designing and constructing the Xuanlong-50 (EXL-50) and upgraded EXL-50U devices in 2019-2022. Hydrogen-boron is highly suitable for future
commercialisation due to its abundant and readily available fuel, low cost, safe and environmentally friendly reaction, and higher conversion efficiency. The construction of ENN Fusion’s Helong-2
represents a major shift in China’s broader nuclear fusion landscape. It introduces private-sector agility and alternative physics. The ENN path (Helong-2), funded by the private ENN Group, targets a commercial demonstration reactor by 2030–2035, around a decade ahead of the state’s schedule. Helong-2 represents China’s frontier in alternative engineering. The state’s leading reactors use conventional, large donut-shaped magnetic fields to hold plasma. Helong-2 uses a spherical torus (ST) geometry.
Canada Mission-specific nuclear platforms The Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation (CSMC) has transitioned from its former Low Enriched Uranium Nuclear Reactor (LEUNR) concept to launch three application-specific nuclear reactor platforms: POLAR-1, JAY-1 and ORCA-1. This strategy separates the portfolio into specialised pathways to meet distinct defence, research and space exploration needs. POLAR-1 (Arctic & defence) is a transportable,
megawatt-scale microreactor engineered to provide power and heat to remote Arctic communities, industrial projects and military installations. Designed to fit inside standard shipping containers, it can be rapidly deployed via military airlift platforms such as the C-17 to replace vulnerable diesel fuel supply chains. CSMC is targeting first
criticality by 2028, with fleet-scale rollout planned from 2030 onward. JAY-1 (Lunar infrastructure) is a compact space
nuclear reactor designed to deliver long-duration baseload power beyond Earth. It is tailored for integration with future lunar landers and surface systems to provide the vital energy needed for lunar night survival, resource development and scientific payloads. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is the primary foundational partner for this platform. CSMC secured a C$1m contract from the CSA specifically to perform feasibility studies on lunar surface infrastructure and extraterrestrial power deployment. Because CSMC operates within Canada’s space ecosystem, JAY-1 is intended to align with the wider international Artemis Accords framework. The compact reactor is built to integrate directly into future lunar landers, commercial lunar rovers and international scientific payloads requiring long-duration power. ORCA-1 is a next-generation research and
training reactor platform built to support Canada’s domestic nuclear workforce. It focuses on nuclear research, technology validation and operator training to scale the necessary technical talent pipeline.
United States Google PPA supports Loviisa life ex Alphabet’s Google has committed to a $15.1bn (€13bn) investment in Finland—Google’s largest single capital deployment in Europe to date. Planned for execution across 2027 and 2028, this energy infrastructure package includes several core developments. While Google is heavily expanding its existing
data centre campus built inside a former paper mill in the south-eastern coastal city of Hamina, the core of the new build-out focuses on three municipalities further north—Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala. Moving data infrastructure to northern Finland allows Google to leverage freezing Arctic temperatures to naturally cool AI servers. To secure the continuous baseline power
required for AI training and inference, Google has signed a 22-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Finnish state-owned energy utility Fortum. This marks Google’s first nuclear power contract outside the US. Google will buy up to 50% of the output from Loviisa between 2030 and 2049. Google’s guaranteed revenue underwrites a €1bn
maintenance and upgrade programme required to keep the ageing Loviisa reactors operating until 2050. The Loviisa plant comprises two Soviet- designed VVER-440 reactors that began commercial operation in 1977 and 1981. Fortum said keeping the plant online for decades to come will help stabilise electricity prices and support the long-term resilience of Finland’s grid. Without Google’s commitment, the plant, which
provides 10% of Finland’s electricity, could not continue operations beyond 2030. According to Fortum, to date, approximately 80% of the projects and €700m of the capital expenditure required to keep the power plant operational to 2050 are still pending investment decisions.
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