EU SMR Alliance receives Commission green light
During a series of events held in Bratislava (Slovakia) the week of 6 November 2023, the European Commission gave its backing to the creation of an EU Industrial Alliance dedicated to Small Modular Reactors. In this respect, Commissioner Kadri Simson expressed her belief that “the EU can have a leadership role in achieving technological maturity for SMRs”, noting that there is a renewed interest in the EU in favour of nuclear energy, with several Member States showing particular interest in this technology.
On 6 November 2023, stakeholders including the Commission, industry, regulators and the research community met under the umbrella of the European SMR partnership event. In this respect, nucleareurope Director General and Chairman of the European SMR pre-Partnership (ESMRPP), Yves Desbazeille indicated that the creation of an Industrial Alliance for SMRs would bring many benefits such as:
- Accelerating the deployment of SMRs.
- Enable licensing collaboration amongst regulators.
- Bring together key stakeholders at both EU and national level.
- Ensure that the EU supply chain is prepared (in terms of skills, capability and capacity).
- Support further Innovation, Research & Development (I,R&D) in this field.
Given the groundwork laid by the ESMRPP, both Yves and SNETP President Bernard Salha welcomed the Commission’s recognition of the efforts already undertaken by the nuclear community and are delighted that they have given their backing to the creation of this alliance.
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