Will the small nuclear reactors begin in the atomic renaissance in Europe?

This experiment is revealed by the start of the Finnish operating fixed energy amid a global nuclear energy momentum. In December 2023, an advertisement Take a triple nuclear energy pledge To reach clear yellow emissions by 2050 it was signed by more than 20 countries, including Finland. According to reconnaissance69 % of Finnish accepts nuclear energy as a tool to combat climate change.

There is a similar transformation throughout Europe. Recently, the Swiss government submitted a legislation project for End his ban On building new nuclear power plants. But the presence of such a ban indicates that the continent was deeply cautious about atomic technology.

Divides are still widespread within the European Union, where their larger economies sit at the ends of the spectrum against nuclear energy. While France derives most of its energy from it, Germany Close his last reactor In 2023, it is Unclear Whether its current government will change the path.

However, the pro -nucleus camp scored a victory for the European Commission The opposite of a previous ban By inserting “nuclear fission energy” between the sectors qualified to receive European Union’s funds in the proposal of the 2028-2034 budget, which was unveiled in July.

But moving from the prohibition to hitting running on the ground is not an easy thing – and this is what is required if Europe wants to keep pace with international competitors in a field that returns back to innovation. “I think it’s not too late, but the time is now clear,” he said Thozon CEO Kiki Lawwers.

This rotation from the Dutch Nuclear Research Institute NRG is part of a new wave of European companies that benefit from scientific experience on the continent to build small standard reactions. Known as SMRS, it provides technology that plays a major role in the momentum nuclear energy it sees today.

According to their name, SMRS is compressed and standard, allowing rapid publication near the need for energy. According to the Italian physicist Stefano Bono, CEO and founder of French SMR NEWCLEO, “Today, with technological maturity, strong investor appetite, and the most obvious organization, SMRS has a real opportunity to determine the future of nuclear weapons and address the most urgent challenges in the energy sector.”

This is especially welcome when they also provide shorter educational courses that can benefit the industry as a whole. Bono said: “While the obstacles remain, the last progress is noticeable: SMRS, with low capital needs and fastest construction times, directly overcomes the barriers that slowed the industry in the past.”

Global competition heats up

As a result, countries around the world follow this technology at an accelerated pace. In the footsteps of China and Russia, the United States chose 11 advanced reactor project In the era of President Trump’s experimental program, with the main ambition that there are at least three test reactors operating by July 4, 2026.

What makes the Trump administration’s nuclear energy is not the low carbon emissions as much as it is the narration about reliability, energy sovereignty, and the expansion of the productive capacity to meet the demands of industry and AI. Large technology companies have also noticed, especially with regard to SMRS capabilities as a widespread intelligence complement.

“Today, with technological maturity, strong investor appetite, and the most obvious organization, SMRS has a real opportunity to determine the future of nuclear weapons and address the most urgent challenges in the energy sector.”Stefano Bono, CEO and Founder, NewColo

With us the energy demand from data centers Expect double within five yearsLike major technology companies Googleand AmazonAnd Microsoft They are increasingly leading investment in nuclear projects. But there are only many nuclear factories that are widely found so that private companies can Restart-Distinguishing the attractiveness of SMRS as a solution in the short term, although it is not an immediate solution.

Unlike fusion, which is still Long shotSMRS depends on the applicable nuclear principles; But nothing is ready for the market. For most designs, the challenge is to increase the rates of commercial costs, while the fourth -generation more creative designs (also known as advanced standard reactors, or AMRS) may be more promising and developed but remain beyond commercial publishing.

All options come with their challenges set. Jimmy was emerging from French VC financing to admit that his original design You will not be compatible with competitive pricesWhich will delay its plans in several years. Meanwhile, EDF Nuward was forced to return to the drawing board with its SMR plans in 2024, with re -launch with “The simplest” design.

With the lack of a clear winner so far, the European industrial alliance is on small normative reactors, which is a special platform, especially by the European Commission in 2024, outperforming its bets. Of Nine projects It was recently chosen six light water reactors (five compressed water, one boiling water), two shots with shot, and one salt reactor from the molten-Thorizon.

According to Lauweers, SMRS Light Water “mainly uses the same technology as the current technology”, but Thorizon (fourth generation) approach is safer by its nature. In the same manner, molten salts of uranium, thorium, or recycled nuclear fuel can be made – with the last two latter, which are likely to enhance energy security in Europe by reducing relying on newly imported uranium.

Certainly the possibility of taking advantage of the current shares of nuclear materials has opened doors to Thorizon in France. Dutch start starting partnership With a heavyweight French in a project in the hope of recycling nuclear waste in the framework of the national investment plan France 2030It also received Grant of 10 million euros. In general, France plans to 1 billion euros was allocated to SMRS by 2030He placed himself as a major player in the nuclear renaissance in Europe.

Export opportunities

According to the Babetst Dubin, the chief science technology science official at the Paris Research Company Zenon research“The fact that these SMR initiatives are part of the broader resetting plan means that, in the end, these SMRS not only focus on France, which has a real export strategy. Otherwise, the presence of 10 startups in France alone will not be sustainable.”

In Europe alone, the export market can be large, as countries such as Belgium, Chikia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Romania are also explored SMR options.

“By making this bet, France can take the initiative and put itself again as a leader in a certain group of nuclear technologies, at least inside Europe,” says Dubin.

It will have competition. UK also £ 2.5 billion pledged For its own program, with a focus on Rolls-Royce SMR, a section of British space giant and engineering, which placed his view on foreign markets. “If we are not pioneer in the world worldwide, we have done something wrong.” “Rolls Royce, CEO Topan Erginbek recently BBC saidIn reference to the company’s experience in building reactors for nuclear submarines.

Governments and organizers will have a major role in how the competitive scene developed. UK Rolls -Royce SMR claimed the only preferred bidder SMR in June. One month later, NewCleo announced that it would work significantly It exceeded its activities in the United Kingdom Because of the lack of support and financing from the British government, its headquarters was transferred From London to Paris.

Even within the European Union, there is fragmentation, without a single regulatory system. Partially as a result, progress occurs more slowly than it was in the United States, which simplifies the SMR license and test it before its ambitious goal for 2026, and where companies such as NusCale Power and X-Energy are already public. This has led to invitations The bolder political leadership When it comes to nuclear energy in the European Union.

Lyon Bilbao, General Manager and International Nuclear AssemblyIt is a global body that represents the nuclear industry. WNA “calls on policy makers to translate energy policies into industrial strategies that can be implemented to simplify the license and allow fast aid to large -scale reactors with SMR speeding up and delivery of microbes.”

Nuclear opposite renewable energy sources

One of the obstacles to the fastest general license is to live near nuclear facilities, regardless of its small size. SMR projects found a solution by targeting areas near the existing reactors. But this approach also reduces its potential in providing heat and low carbon carbon to heavy energy users such as aluminum, steel or chemical factories.

This creates the scenario of self -realization, as it makes doubts about nuclear weapons SMR projects Less competitive against renewable energy sources. However, the defenders say the two are complementary, as SMRS provides a reliable power that can adapt to the sources of energy changing by nature such as wind and solar energy. in explainer On SMRS, the International Atomic Energy Agency highlighted that “it can be associated and increased the efficiency of renewable sources in the hybrid energy system.”

Bono is designed that “the nuclear is a safe and clean part and is indispensable to the transmission of energy.” As SMRS approaches publishing, heavy industries, too, now you see it as a tool to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Fortune 500 Eurobe Company OutokumbuFor example, lesson and Feasibility confirm From building SMR near the largest stainless steel factory in Torno, Finland.

According to the International Energy Agency, this demand for transmitted and clean energy from private sector signals is that SMRS can be a The catalyst for change. However, the agency emphasizes that its success “will depend on whether government support, innovation and new business models enable them to reduce their costs quickly enough.”

If this happens, IEA expects that SMRS can represent 10 % of all nuclear capacity in the world by 2040. Along with a new wave of large -scale reactors, this may enable Europe to make nuclear energy a major part of the future of clean energy.