nucleareurope outlines sector growth perspectives at OECD NEA workshop on advanced reactors and SMRs

On Tuesday 18 November 2025, nucleareurope Policy Director Andrei Goicea participated in a Paris-held workshop on backend costs estimations for advanced reactors and Small Modular Reactors, organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD NEA).

As part of the workshop, Andrei gave a presentation on long-term perspectives for the nuclear industry, highlighting the importance of a forward looking policy framework to address questions related to financing, skills and supply chain. He noted that as support for nuclear is growing across European member States, so are plans for continued operation of existing power plants, as well as for nuclear new build, with installed nuclear capacity in the EU set to reach close to 150 Gigawatt (GW) by 2050, compared to around 100GW today.

“More nuclear will allow the EU to decarbonise faster, at lower costs, while ensuring security of energy supplies” stressed Andrei, noting the system benefits of an increase in installed nuclear capacity, as outlined in a recent Compass Lexecon report commissioned by nucleareurope.

Andrei further noted the significant economic and social impact of nuclear, highlighted in the latest Deloitte report on the topic, conducted on behalf of nucleareurope. Indeed, the nuclear industry currently supports close to a million jobs and generates over €250Bn in EU economic output. With more nuclear, these benefits are set to increase: in a 150GW installed nuclear capacity scenario, the nuclear industry would for example support close to 1.5 million jobs and generate over €330Bn in EU economic output.

Concluding his intervention, Andrei gave an overview of the European Industrial Alliance on SMR’s current activities, noting that the Alliance’s Strategic Action Plan was published in September, and that its Stakeholder Forum will take place in January 2026.