'We should prepare conditions to deploy not one or two plants, but dozens’.
French small modular reactor (SMR) developer Nuward is hoping to start construction of a demonstrator plant as early as 2030, according to Renaud Crassous, the company’s executive director.
Crassous told NucNet that Nuward is considering already existing nuclear sites in France to deploy a pilot 340-MW SMR. He said he could not disclose an exact location at this stage.
Nuward will be a Generation III pressurised water reactor plant combining two 170- MW reactor modules for a total output of 340 MW. One of the main characteristics of the plant will be the integration of proven PWR technology into a compact modular configuration.
The project is being led by Nuward, a subsidiary of France’s EDF set up in March 2023. Nuward also involves the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), French industrial group Naval Group, reactor design and maintenance company TechnicAtome, nuclear company Framatome and engineering company Tractebel.
The Nuward SMR is in the basic design phase, which is expected to be completed at the end of 2026 or in early 2027, according to Crassous.
This phase aims to bring the design of the SMR to maturity and includes describing all the equipment and specifications for each part of the plant.
Crassous said that earlier this year, Nuward completed a conceptual design for the plant covering the initial idea and engineering concept, and submitted a safety report to the French regulator, a move he described as a “milestone” since it marks the start of the prelicensing phase. Results of the regulatory review are expected in 2024.
Cost Aims To Be ‘Competitive With Coal And Gas’
In terms of projected costs, Crassous did not disclose details but said Nuward wants to be competitive with coal and gas-fired power in the range of €50 to €100 per MWh of baseload production
“So, our target is to be better than coal and gas and this will not be easy because I am sure that the first-of-a-kind SMR of all developers will be relatively expensive,” he said.
“It is the rationale of SMRs [modularity] and the economies of the series effect which will lead to competitiveness.”
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the “series effect” results in economies through the standardisation of factory production and feedback from the onsite deployment of several identical plants.
First concrete for a pilot Nuward plant is slated to be poured in 2030, marking the formal start of construction, Crassous said.
“We still need to demonstrate it is possible to deploy SMRs in series,” he said and added: “It is a classical chicken and egg dilemma.”
“We will manage to do it only if we have a perspective for series, not only with the one first of a kind demonstrator. We should prepare conditions to deploy not one or two SMRs, but dozens.”
“We need to be transparent about the stage of design, about the uncertainties and provide clarity to stakeholders about the state of the technology, the supply chain bottlenecks.”
Nuward wants to mobilise knowhow in the French and European nuclear industries to speed up the development of its SMR pilot project, Crassous said.
Experience and supply chains from EPR projects in France, Finland and the UK will play a role in these efforts. Crassous said Nuward decided in 2021 to open its supply chain to European participants and form partnerships across the continent to make Nuward a Europe-based project.
The Challenges To Deployment
Asked about challenges to deployment, Crassous said standardisation and harmonisation of licensing requirements across various countries and potential markets could be improved
“If one has to redesign the reactors when deploying to another country, one will have serious difficulties to achieve a series effect,” he said.
“To make a perfect reactor acceptable to everyone and everywhere is likely impossible and will be very costly” he said, adding that trying to find a middle ground acceptable to everybody is the way forward.
Nuward’s efforts include talks with several European nuclear safety authorities – Finland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland and the Netherlands - for a joint early review of their SMR design, led by the French regulator ASN.
France’s EDF, Nuward’s parent company, has an ambitious nuclear new-build programme focused on deploying up to 6 + 8 new EPR reactor units domestically by the mid-2040s. The company has also been looking for overseas new-build contracts including in Poland, the Czech Republic, the UK, India and Kazakhstan.
Crassous said he does not see a potential competition between EDF’s flagship EPR project and Nuward’s SMR development. He said SMRs can play “a complementary role” to large-scale baseload units.
SMRs could address different needs on the reactor market, for example in places where large-scale is inapplicable due to grid restrictions, spatial limitations, or scarce financing availability, he said.
“SMRs are needed to extend the possibilities of using civil nuclear energy to tackle climate change and fill economic needs,” Crassous said.