Nuclear developments in France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and beyond
Recent happenings in Europe highlight that nuclear power activities are expanding globally. Here is a roundup of headlines with an international flavor.
Fuel fabrication in Germany: The Ministry of the Environment of the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony has granted Framatome permission to manufacture Russian-designed nuclear fuel rods and assemblies at the French company’s facility in Lingen, Germany. In the French-Russian joint venture, Framatome will use components supplied by TVEL, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned Rosatom. Framatome subsidiary ANF had applied for state permission for the project in March 2022, about a month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the project has stirred up quite a bit of controversy in Germany.
The Lower Saxony ministry has attempted to dampen the controversy by emphasizing that employees of Rosatom or TVEL will be allowed to enter the facility only “in very limited cases and accompanied by the relevant inspectorate.” The ministry added that the approval could be revisited “if new risks are identified . . . in the area of national security.” Furthermore, the state ministry noted that it granted the license for the project only after the federal government issued an updated security assessment for the joint venture in February.
Newcleo at the NRC: Paris-based reactor developer Newcleo has submitted a regulatory engagement plan to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in regard to potential future licensing of its LFR-AS-200, a 200-MWe lead-cooled fast reactor designed for such industrial users as data centers, hydrogen production facilities, and cement and steel manufacturers. The plan features an overview of Newcleo’s proposed licensing approach and an indicative schedule for technical submissions and interactions with the NRC.
The company’s engagement with the NRC is part of its expanding international collaboration, which is laying an experimental foundation for the LFR-AS-200’s safety case and future licensing applications. Newcleo has been working with national laboratories in France, Italy, and Japan to generate experimental data to validate safety calculations and computational models, support materials qualification, and demonstrate performance of engineering technologies. The company expects that these data will strengthen its licensing applications.
Rolls-Royce reactors in the Czech Republic: The United Kingdom’s Rolls-Royce SMR has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Czech-based ČEZ Group and the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade to begin site preparation activities for its reactors at two new locations in the Czech Republic. These locations are the Tušimice site in the Ústí nad Labem region and the Dětmarovice site in the Moravian-Silesian region. Rolls-Royce SMR and ČEZ have already been collaborating on delivery of a first SMR—to the Temelín site in the South Bohemian region.
The Czech government considers its collaboration with Rolls-Royce SMR to be crucial to its plans for deploying a fleet of SMRs generating 3 GW of power. Rolls-Royce SMR views its work in the Czech Republic as strengthening its position as “Europe’s leading SMR business.” The company’s SMR fleet deployment program currently includes plans for three units (with the potential for six) in the United Kingdom; three units in Sweden; and six units in the Czech Republic.
Stellaria’s energy hub in southern France: A memorandum of understanding to develop an integrated energy hub in the Fos-sur-Mer region of southern France has been signed by the France-based advanced reactor developer Stellaria, the France-based technology company Unitel Group, and the Energie Hub consortium. The companies’ stated objective is “to support a competitive, decarbonized energy supply for the region’s major industrial players.” The focus of this objective is progressive deployment of several of Stellaria’s molten salt fast reactors, combined with development of an AI-powered digital energy management platform.
Work in AI and digital infrastructure at Unitel Group’s Laboratoire territorial industrie Fos-Berre (Industrial Territorial Laboratory) in southern France, a think tank that the company cofounded in 2022 with the French government, led to the idea for an integrated energy hub in Fos-sur-Mer and to the creation of the Energie Hub consortium, which is serving as a platform for the development, financing, construction, and operation of strategic energy infrastructure in the region.
