The European Commission has set out a plan to speed up the development and roll-out of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) in Europe.
SMRs are smaller nuclear reactors designed to be built in modules, with reactors or components manufactured in factories and transported to sites for deployment or final assembly, the Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
It added the technology could be used alongside renewable energy and provide low-carbon electricity as well as heat for uses such as district heating and industrial processes.
Total SMR capacity in the EU could reach between 17 gigawatts and 53 gigawatts by 2050, based on projections in the Commission’s Nuclear Illustrative Programme.
A gigawatt is a measure of power capacity broadly equivalent to the output of a large power station.
Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said SMRs were “a safe nuclear technology” that could provide “reliable, homegrown decarbonised energy”, according to the statement.
First projects targeted for early 2030s
The Commission’s strategy sets out actions intended to support the first European SMR projects by the early 2030s, with coordination among EU countries, industry, regulators and investors.
The European Industrial Alliance on SMRs is expected to play a role in implementation.
The document also refers to “fleet-based” deployment — using the same designs across multiple projects — and calls for closer industrial cooperation and development of a European supply chain, including fuel cycle services.
The strategy promotes regulatory cooperation including joint early reviews and “regulatory sandboxes” under the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act, and proposes establishing “SMR Valleys” to support business collaboration and manufacturing.
It also proposes an “SMR coalition” for interested EU countries to coordinate policy, regulatory and economic work on selected SMR designs.
Alongside the strategy, the Commission published the final Nuclear Illustrative Programme estimating around €241 billion of investment would be needed by 2050 to meet EU countries’ nuclear plans, covering lifetime extensions for existing reactors and new large-scale facilities.
The programme also notes additional investment would be needed to develop SMRs, AMRs and fusion technologies.
