The importance of SMRs for the European energy transition

We asked Gilles Queneherve, EU Projects Zone Impact Circle member, to help us demystify the nuclear energy scene in Europe, and more specifically the role of SMRs in the European energy transition.

As a senior project manager at LGI and the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP), Queneherve has a clear view of the nuclear landscape in the European Union.

Read the short discussion and find out why SMRs are viewed as a very promising technology.

Small Modular Reactors: what they are and what they do

What are SMRs and why are they viewed as a plausible solution to our energy issues in Europe?

SMRs, or Small Modular Reactors, are nuclear reactors that are smaller in size and capacity than traditional nuclear power plants. They typically have a capacity of less than 300 megawatts, which is significantly smaller than the 1,000 to 1,600 megawatts of traditional nuclear reactors, like the French EPR for instance.

SMRs can count on several big advantages: First, they are supposed to be more flexible and versatile than traditional nuclear power plants, as they can be used in a variety of settings, including remote locations, industrial sites, and small communities.

Second, they are inherently safe as they are designed with passive safety features that allow them to shut down automatically in the event of an emergency.

Third, they promise to be more cost-effective and therefore competitive with other low-carbon production means, if they can be mass-produced in series.

Thanks to their modularity aspect, major components can be produced remotely and then assembled on-site, reducing construction time and costs. More generally, nuclear power allows to generate electricity without relying on imported fossil fuels which can be expensive and subject to price fluctuations, especially in the current geopolitical context.

Overall, SMRs are viewed as a very promising technology that could help meet Europe's Green Deal objectives: namely net zero by 2050. For this to happen, the SMRs need to be deployed as fast as possible.

Are SMRs also a solution regarding the safety and waste issues raised by those opposed to nuclear energy production?

SMRs are designed to be built with passive safety systems that can automatically shut down the reactor in the event of a malfunction, without the need for human intervention. This means that SMRs have a much lower risk of accidents and radiation leaks.

Additionally, SMRs are expected to produce less nuclear waste as they use less fuel and material in general. Furthermore, advanced designs based on “Generation IV” technologies can be used to recycle existing and future nuclear waste.

These advanced technologies are under development in many EU countries (e.g. France, Sweden, Belgium, Poland and even Denmark and Italy) which will help reduce the amount of nuclear waste by recycling it but also decrease the European dependence on uranium mining.

For light-water SMRs, the waste they will produce will have almost the same characteristics as the existing one for which safe and reasonable options such as deep geological repositories are being currently deployed in Finland and soon in Sweden, France and Switzerland.

More about nuclear:
Site visit: How thorium energy can change the future of nuclear power
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Who is working on the SMR technology in the EU

How many of the 13 EU countries that currently produce nuclear energy (have working power plants) are currently working on SMRs, to your knowledge?

None of the 13 EU countries that currently produce nuclear energy have operational SMRs. However, some of these countries are actively exploring the potential of SMRs and investing in research and development.

Recently, 11 countries have manifested officially their interest in developing SMRs to be deployed in the early 2030s. In addition, we notice the emergence of many start-ups in Europe that are working on innovative designs and are supported both by public and private investors.

The main SMR R&D&I programme is the French one, NUWARD (Nuclear Reactor for Water Desalination) which aims to develop and deploy SMRs by the mid-2030s. Its main feature is that it can be used for electricity generation, hydrogen production and also water desalination. In fact, the waste heat from the nuclear reaction can be used to power a desalination plant, which is foreseen to produce up to 100,000 cubic meters of freshwater per day. The programme is led by EDF and is supported by several French and European nuclear industry companies, such Framatome, and TechnicAtome, Ansaldo (from Italy), Tractebel/Engie from Belgium and others

Similarly, the United Kingdom, which has left the EU, is officially supporting a Rolls-Royce’s design. Other EU countries, such as Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Estonia, etc. have also expressed interest in SMRs and are currently exploring their potential.

EDF believes that SMRs have the potential to play a crucial role as part of the global initiative to curb the impact of climate change. Do you agree and if so how?

SMRs are an attractive solution for all the reasons mentioned above.

Given that there are no SMRs in operation in Europe today and that this is not likely to be the case before the 2030s, it is difficult to say that they will play a major role in reducing the continent's emissions in the short term. Some non-EU countries are more advanced, like the USA, China, Russia or Canada but still, electricity production from SMRs is likely to remain marginal worldwide for the following years ahead.

This being said they may play an important role in the net-zero by 2050 objective if they start being deployed on a big scale within the next 2 decades.

Globally, nuclear energy remains very much central as a non-intermittent, baseload, low-carbon electricity production source, together with other low-carbon options. It can play an important role to decarbonize some industrial sectors such as transport, chemical industry, and steel making industries by producing high-temperature industrial heat, low carbon H2 and can also help reduce the need for fossil fuels for domestic heating and desalination of water.

IEA on nuclear

According to an IEA report, over the past 50 years, the use of nuclear power has reduced CO2 emissions, however, in advanced economies, nuclear power has begun to fade. A big exception in this rule is France who – according to Eurostat – is currently the largest producer of nuclear power in the EU. What made France (and EDF) go against the norm?

This French specificity, which appeared after the oil shocks of the 1970s, is mainly due to the desire of successive French governments at the time to protect France against future shocks of similar nature. In my opinion, there was this idea that in order to be a country that counts on the world scene, it was necessary to be able to produce its electricity in a relatively independent way (even if the uranium had to be imported).

To support this ambition, the French government has been able to rely on the research carried out by the CEA in this field since the 1950s. Secondly, it is clear that the French tradition of planning/centralization has made it possible to build a fleet of about fifty reactors in a few decades.

That being said, this EDF effort at the time seems all the more impressive today considering the difficulties observed on several new reactor sites. But the comparison is not reason, and the context at the time was very different at all levels.

EU-funded nuclear projects

Which EU-funded projects would you choose as currently among the top-notch when it comes to nuclear production and why?

It is difficult to make a choice as there are 25+ EU projects ongoing within the SNETP portfolio, but let’s pick two of them:

First, TANDEM, a project very much linked to what we discussed just above, which aims to develop methodologies and tools to facilitate the integration of LW SMRs into smart low-carbon hybrid energy systems (nuclear, renewables, hydro, etc.). TANDEM will focus on four main factors that address the practicalities of successfully integrating SMR technology into hybrid energy systems:

1. Safety of SMR integration into hybrid energy systems by extending the current safety approach implemented for operating nuclear power plants.
2. Operationality (in particular flexibility) of energy production within hybrid energy systems. Taking into consideration grid stability and resilience, intermittent reliability of renewable energies, and power demand variability.
3. Economic viability of SMRs in such hybrid energy systems, considering the broader energy market, such as electricity, hydrogen, and heat markets.
4. European citizen engagement towards SMR technologies for power and non-power applications, and related safety aspects.

Second NPHYCO, which addresses the need for large “green” hydrogen production by investigating realistic scenarios for large-scale low-carbon hydrogen production in Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) via the:

1. Assessment of the feasibility of H2 production at an existing NPP
2. Assessment of the added value of H2 production at an existing NPP
3. Identification of suitable pilot project locations.