French State-owned electricity utility and nuclear group EDF has put its Nuward small modular reactor (SMR) forward as a test case of joint European regulatory review, the company has announced. The Nuward project was launched in September 2019 and is currently in the conceptual design stage.

The Nuward will be subject to a joint regulatory review by the nuclear safety agencies of three European countries. These are France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (abbreviated to ASN in French), the Czech (Republic) State Office for Nuclear Safety (Czech abbreviation SÚJB) and Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK).

“Through technical discussions, this collaboration will help ASN, STUK and SÚJB increase their respective knowledge of each other’s regulatory practices at the European level and improve Nuward’s ability to anticipate the challenges of international licensing and meet future market needs,” affirmed EDF in its announcement. It noted that the successful development of commercially-competitive SMRs required technological innovation, serial production, and clear regulatory frameworks.

“Harmonisation of regulations and requirements in Europe and beyond is thus an essential element to support aspirations of standardisation of design, in-factory series production and limited design adaptations to country-specific requirements,” highlighted the group. “By this action EDF confirms its leading position in fostering European cooperation and supporting the acceleration of international SMR licensing, thereby creating momentum towards harmonisation of SMR regulations.”

The Nuward is a pressurised water reactor (PWR) design, a choice made because of France’s considerable experience with PWR technology in both large-scale and small (submarine) nuclear power plants (NPPs). A Nuward NPP is currently planned to be composed of two 170 MWe PWR SMRs, for a total output of 340 MWe.

The project is a joint endeavour of EDF, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA is its abbreviation in French), shipbuilder Naval Group, and nuclear submarine reactor company TechnicAtome. EDF is providing systems integration and operation expertise, CEA is contributing its research and qualification skills, Naval Group its experience with structures and modular construction, and TechnicAtome its experience with small reactors.

After completion of the current conceptual design, for the completion of which Belgian engineering group Tractebel was recently contracted to carry out studies, the Nuward is expected to move into the basic design stage next year. Basic design should be finished by 2025, followed by the ‘advanced concept phase’, during which the SMR’s design should be certified and the necessary supply chain created. The advanced concept phase should be completed by 2030, followed by the construction of a demonstration Nuward SMR, which should take three years.