US Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) Director Enoh T Ebong has announced funding for a series of international workshops to promote US-led civil nuclear energy deployment in Europe and Eurasia. “Civil nuclear energy holds promise as a clean and secure energy solution, and USTDA is at the forefront of supporting our partners both to develop frameworks for deployment and to advance their individual infrastructure needs,” she said.
“Our previous workshop series helped to bring consensus in Europe that small modular reactors (SMRs) have a role in the continent’s energy transition and climate plans. I am pleased to announce our upcoming series, which will build on this progress by focusing on technology deployment. We look forward to working with US industry and our European partners on an agenda that will generate opportunities for US companies while helping our partners advance their energy and climate goals.”
Over the next two years, USTDA says it will host four workshops in Europe and the US to promote industry-wide transatlantic partnerships and support decision-makers. The first workshop will be held this autumn at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. This follows a previous series of five workshops on SMR technology and civil nuclear energy regulations and standards in Europe. That series sought to bring together US and European public and private sector officials to focus on creating an enabling environment for SMR deployment in Europe.
USTDA’s recent portfolio of nuclear energy-related activities include project preparation to enhance climate and energy security in Indonesia, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. USTDA-funded technical assistance in Indonesia will support state-owned power company, PLN Indonesia Power to develop Indonesia’s first SMR. Indonesia Power selected NuScale Power to carry out the assistance in partnership with a subsidiary of Texas-based Fluor Corporation and Japan’s JGC Corporation. The proposed 462 MWe facility would utilise NuScale’s SMR technology.
In Poland a June 2021 USTDA-funded front-end engineering & design (FEED) study influenced Poland’s decision to select Westinghouse Electric Company to supply the technology for the first three reactors its first NPP. Bechtel Corporation was added to the project development team in May 2023. This multibillion-dollar project will also facilitate Poland’s transition away from coal-fired power. USTDA said the contract is one of the largest civil nuclear projects ever awarded to US industry and will support thousands of US nuclear power industry jobs.
USTDA funded a FEED study in October 2022 to support Romania in deploying Europe’s first SMR. The grant to RoPower Nuclear, a subsidiary of the Nuclearelectrica SA followed from previous USTDA assistance and led to Romania’s selection in May 2022 of NuScale to provide its SMR technology. President Biden announced at the 2022 G7 Summit that USTDA had assembled a coalition of partners to fund the project’s vital FEED study phase, which is the next critical step to implementation.
In December 2021, USTDA funded a licensing gap analysis for the Science & Technology Centre in Ukraine to facilitate the introduction of SMR technology. USTDA says its funding will provide Ukraine with a framework within which it can deploy SMR technology for its future energy security needs. NuScale is serving as the contractor for this activity.
USTDA says it achieves its mission by funding feasibility studies, technical assistance and pilot projects that integrate US private sector innovation into infrastructure projects at the critical early stages when design choices and technology options are determined. The Agency also connects overseas project sponsors with US partners through its reverse trade missions, industry conferences and expert workshops.
