newcleo in deal to green Italian steel production

Italian manufacturing company Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with newcleo to explore integrating nuclear energy in the production of green steel.

The partners will develop integrated solutions that will leverage newcleo’s Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (LFR) for electricity and high temperature heat production. This heat will be fed into Danieli Technologies steel production processes, thereby greening operations.

The collaboration will allow Danieli to reduce energy costs and volatility and will make a significant contribution to decarbonising the steel industry.

Furthermore, the manufacturer added in a press release, the agreement could lead to additional energy supply solutions such as the production of green hydrogen to power Danieli’s Energiron Direct Reduction Technology to produce metallic iron.

Stefano Buono, founder and CEO of newcleo, commented on the agreement: “Our objective through this collaboration is to provide steel manufacturers with economically viable solutions for the production of green steel. By combining our technologies, we will look to open up great opportunities for the global steel industry, not only by addressing the direct needs of steel makers, but also by propelling global supply chains towards a new era of competitiveness and sustainability”.

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newcleo reactor design

The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design includes a compact 200MWe LFR module based on Gen-IV technology.

It's characterised by a small size and power output and is designed to be produced in a series, thereby decreasing costs associated with deployment.

It's also proliferation resistent and reliable, making the reactor a good fit for flexible applications such as decarbonising industry.

Alessandro Brussi, chairman of the Board of Danieli, said: “newcleo is an innovative player in the nuclear energy industry, looking to manufacture Advanced Modular Reactors and closing the fuel cycle like Danieli is doing in the iron and steel to have plant and process with zero impact.

"A solution to obtain low-cost fossil free energy is one of the key factors to move a step ahead in the decarbonization of the steel industry.”

Nuclear for energy security and decarbonisation

Recently, the Italian government has shown interest in reintroducing nuclear into its energy mix, pledging to have nuclear power generated by 2030. The country has reversed its anti-nuclear stance in an effort to boost energy security and to meet decarbonisation goals and to this end will be investigating the potential of SMRs, fourth-generation fission technology and fusion.

And it's not only Italy looking to ensure a steady supply of cost effective energy. Europe recently passed the Clean Industrial Deal, which focuses on assisting energy intensive industries to lower costs and decarbonise, ultimately becoming more competitive.

The Commission also pledged to following more concrete measures to streamline current permitting and licensing practices for the deployment of new nuclear energy technologies such as SMRs.