France’s Framatome (owned by the EDF Group – 80.5% – and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries – 19.5%) and US-based NuScale Power Corporation have expanded their longstanding partnership. The agreement establishes a global supply chain for NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) fuel. Framatome’s European facilities are now officially included in the supply chain to provide localised fuel for NuScale’s European customers. Framatome received formal notice to qualify its Richland (Washington) facility to manufacture the NuFUEL-HTP2 design for the US market. The NuFUEL-HTP2 design uses Framatome’s high-thermal performance (HTP) and spacer grid technology to ensure mechanical strength and seismic resilience.
The agreement directs Framatome to produce at least 444 fuel assemblies for NuScale’s first US customer, with deliveries expected to begin as early as 2030. The companies aim to complete the fabrication of fuel for NuScale’s SMR technology within the next five years.
The NuScale Power Module (NPM) is a small pressurised water reactor (PWR) that can each generate 77 MWe or 250 MWt and can be scaled to meet customer needs through an array of flexible configurations up to 924 MWe (12 modules). It uses a fuel design based on existing Framatome PWR fuel technology with decades of proven operation. It is the first and only SMR to have its designs certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
This expansion builds on an exclusive fuel manufacturing contract signed in December 2015 for the manufacture of fuel assemblies for NuScale’s SMRs. Under the agreement, Framatome was selected as the exclusive manufacturer for NuScale’s fuel assemblies, which are based on conventional ceramic uranium dioxide fuel. Framatome committed to providing the extensive testing and analyses required for NuScale’s NRC design certification application. The partnership established that the fuel would use Framatome’s proven HTP fuel and spacer grid technology, which had already been used in more than 20,000 assemblies globally.
The agreement primarily targeted Framatome’s Richland facility to serve US customers. The Richland facility was awarded the industry’s first 40-year nuclear fuel fabrication licence renewal from the NRC in 2009 and plans to modify its licence to deliver fuel above 5% of U235 as part of its Advanced Fuel Management programme.
Under the new agreement, Framatome’s European facilities will be leveraged for the future fabrication of fuel assemblies for NuScale’s European SMR customers. These are expected to include Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Romania is slated to be the first European country to deploy a NuScale SMR at the Doicești site. A final investment decision was approved in February, with the first module planned for operation by July 2033.
In Poland, NuScale and mining giant KGHM signed a contract to construct a NuScale SMR by 2029. An application for a decision-in-principle was submitted to the Polish government in 2023. In the Czech Republic, NuScale has a memorandum of understanding with the utility ČEZ to evaluate SMR deployment. Slovakia is included in a broader regional memorandum of understanding with Romania’s Nuclearelectrica and other partners to explore deployment in Central and Eastern Europe.
“By leveraging our proven expertise and advanced American and European manufacturing facilities, we are ensuring reliable, high-quality fuel delivery for NuScale’s customers worldwide,” said Lionel Gaiffe, Senior Executive Vice President of Framatome’s Fuel Business Unit. “This milestone reflects our shared vision for a sustainable energy future and reinforces Framatome’s role as a trusted partner in advancing next-generation nuclear solutions.” Carl Fisher, Chief Operating Officer at NuScale Power noted: “This newest agreement will allow us to continue to meet our critical supply chain and manufacturing milestones to fulfil project timelines and prepare to deploy our groundbreaking technology.”
NuScale, in a very long Forward Looking Statement noted that “actual results may differ materially as a result of a number of factors, including, among other things, the Company’s liquidity and ability to raise capital; the Company’s failure to receive new contract awards; cost overruns, project delays or other problems arising from project execution activities, including the failure to meet cost and schedule estimates; our expectations regarding obtaining regulatory approvals, and the timing thereof, to deploy our SMRs in the United States and abroad”.
Earlier, Guggenheim Securities analysts criticised NuScale Power (SMR), describing NuScale’s partner, ENTRA1, as an inexperienced firm with minimal staff. The report, highlighting risks in NuScale’s commercialisation strategy, caused a 12.4% drop in SMR stock ($32.46 to $28.43) in November 2025, sparking class-action lawsuits. NuScale had faced a similar spate of class-action lawsuits in August 2024.
NuScale’s first flagship project in the US, the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), was officially terminated in November 2023 in face of surging Costs. The estimated cost of the 462 MWe plant rose from roughly $5.3bn to $9.3bn. The project, a partnership with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), was planned for a site at the Idaho National Laboratory and was intended to be the first operational SMR plant in the US.
