Growing energy‑security concerns and Europe’s 2050 net‑zero target are driving a surge of investment in small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced reactors. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s Small Modular Reactor Dashboard, published in February 2025, shows $15.4bn invested worldwide, of which $5.4bn came from private sources. Although most of this capital comes from the US, European investments are scaling up.
The UK-US Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy, agreed in mid-September, has already triggered several commercial agreements to build SMR fleets in Britain. However, as designs shift from research and development into early commercial projects, Europe will need a concerted and collaborative approach to achieve widespread deployment. The European SMR Alliance, a network of 350 industry, academic and policy stakeholders, has released a five-year plan of activities aimed at demonstrating and deploying SMRs across Europe by the early 2030s. That plan lists 10 priority actions from mapping the non-electricity market demand, to revitalising supply chains, boosting R&D/skills, unlocking finance and streamlining regulation. Additional work streams cover financing models, public outreach, fuel‑cycle logistics and safety/security standards.
Europe’s SMR landscape
Amid growing interest in nuclear energy, several European nations have committed to ambitious new nuclear build programmes and many include a vision for SMRs (see map).
The Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and the UK have all signed agreements to develop and deploy small reactors; several commercial contracts are now under way.
Romania’s RoPower Nuclear has signed front-end engineering and design contracts for a six-unit NuScale VOYGR power plant (462 MWe) at the former Doicești coal plant, with a final investment decision slated for early 2027.
Rolls-Royce has been selected to build the UK’s first SMR following a two-year competition. Great British Energy – Nuclear aims to allocate a site later this year with grid connection expected in the mid-2030s.
Czech utility ČEZ has picked the same 470 MWe Rolls-Royce design to provide up to 3 GWe of capacity at the Temelín site and is also targeting startup in the mid-2030s.
Vattenfall is evaluating building either three RR-SMRs or five of GE Veranova’s BWRX-300 units on the Värö Peninsula, near Sweden’s existing Ringhals nuclear plant.
France, where nuclear accounts for around two-thirds of electricity generation, is also looking to SMRs as part of its France 2030 plan. The French Government has earmarked more than €500m for the Nuward SMR, a 400 MWe integral PWR being developed by an EDF subsidiary.
In Sweden, Uniper and Blykalla are progressing the 70 MWSEALER fast‑reactor at Oskarshamn (with an electrical prototype under construction). Start-up Steady Energy has signed agreements with three Finnish utilities considering its 50 MWt LDR-50 (a PWR) for district heating.
Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment has given decisions‑in‑principle for six GEV BWRX‑300 SMRs; Orlen Synthos Green Energy plans the first unit will be at Włocławek in north-central Poland.
Estonia-based Fermi Energia is also planning a 600 MWe BWRX-300 plant for completion by the early 2030s, tracking progress of the pilot unit, currently under construction at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site in Canada.
Barriers to SMR deployment?
Despite strong drivers, Europe still faces four main barriers to SMR deployment: financing, licensing, supply chain readiness and workforce. Efforts are underway to address these, but more still needs to be done – and the timeline is tight. The European SMR Alliance says the timely deployment of SMRs is “crucial for maintaining the competitiveness of European industry, driving the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future by 2050, and enhancing the EU’s strategic autonomy in the energy sector”.
George Borovas, Partner at international law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth, points to financing and supply chain availability as chief obstacles. “Many SMR developers in Europe rely on private funds. However, public funding mechanisms either at a national or the EU level are limited to support deployment,” Borovas tells NEi. He acknowledges, though, that more ways are emerging through various national/EU policies and initiatives, marking a “step in the right direction”.
Similarly, while certain SMR developers are making progress in building supply chains for their specific reactor designs, Borovas contends that a continent‑wide, design‑agnostic supply network is essential for cost‑effective roll‑out of SMRs. Supply chain investment is also key for Virginia Crosbie, founder and partner at UK-based investment fund Nuclear Capital and a former UK politician. She expects the US-UK transatlantic collaboration will lead to “a wave of factory investment and capacity building in both the UK and US”, but cautions that European companies not integrated into those supply chains or collaborations may lose out, unless they win subcontracts or form partnerships. However, Crosbie believes the single most critical barrier to SMRs in Europe is regulatory harmonisation and licensing.
Unlike large-scale nuclear projects, SMRs rely heavily on modular, repeatable designs and supply chains. But the fragmented nature of regulation in Europe means that currently a design approved in one state may need to undergo lengthy, duplicative reviews elsewhere, which Crosbie says, “delays deployment and undermines economies of scale”.
“We do need to have a much more coordinated and streamlined licensing framework, or at least mutual recognition of approvals. Until we get this, investors and developers face significant uncertainty about timelines and cost,” she adds.
Additional barriers to SMRs cited include high development costs and the long payback horizons for investors, political and public acceptance issues, nuclear waste and proliferation concerns, and skills/workforce constraints. Additionally, the fledgeling advanced reactor sector must compete with alternative low-carbon sources. “The falling costs of renewables, energy storage and hydrogen, might erode the case for SMRs if deployment lags,” Crosbie notes.
When it comes to manpower, Borovas points out that workforce development is “a long-lead item and requires a concerted, deliberate effort by the governments, academic institutions and industry”.
European action to pave the way for SMRs
The European SMR Alliance’s strategic action plan lists 10 target actions (see Table) to be addressed by eight different technical working groups.
Finance
While SMRs promise quicker investment returns than gigawatt-scale nuclear plants, they still face significant financing hurdles. For institutional investors, SMRs are a high-variance way to get exposure to low-carbon investments, Crosbie says, noting that first-of-a-kind (FOAK) builds are particularly expensive. Additionally, Borovas points out that while financial institutions are now ready to fund nuclear, projects like SMRs are “unable to show demonstrable experience in deployment (including supply chains, on time/on budget construction and operations) necessary to alleviate the return on investment concerns”. Meanwhile, Crosbie says “utility partnerships and having the backing of government [is key] in terms of derisking these [SMR] projects”.
A UK‑style Contract for Difference (CfD) – already used for wind and solar – could lock in revenue streams for SMR or microreactor operators by guaranteeing a fixed power price. Other approaches could be agreeing power purchases agreements (PPAs) with industrial customers — something that has already been demonstrated in the US.
Regulatory work
As part of its efforts the European SMR Alliance is working to facilitate common safety assessments by EU regulators by creating industry position papers on safety topics in close collaboration with project working groups (PWGs). Nine projects have been selected to form the PWGs, including two lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs), five PWRs, one BWR and one molten salt reactor. Applications span power generation, district heating and industrial uses.
Recently a pre-licensing assessment of the EAGLES-300 – one of the LFRs selected by the European Alliance – was launched by the Belgian, Italian and Romanian nuclear regulators. The effort will be supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a pilot within its Nuclear Harmonisation and Standardisation Initiative.
In addition, a newly expanded MOU between the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) could also reap benefits across Europe.
The ONR is targeting completion of reactor design reviews within two years, and nuclear site licensing within one year, while the Environment Agency will explore accelerating site permitting. This regulatory simplification and harmonisation effort, “will help to reduce costs and speed up the construction of the first wave of SMR plants”, according to Roger Martella, chief corporate officer of GE Vernova.
Gareth Thomas, director of Holtec Britain told NEi that closer collaboration is likely to speed up the company’s final UK site licensing application, projected to occur in 2028, “as detailed US regulatory review will be already significantly progressed”.
This could have wider benefits for European projects, too, as those designs that have been licensed in the UK or US may be able to benefit from similar agreements with European regulators. However, as licensing approaches differ there may be “gaps” between the frameworks, so in some instances there will be little change in the pace of assessments.
Supply chain development
At least 22 SMR designs have entered into binding contracts with supply chain companies, while 19 have signed non-binding agreements, NEA analysis shows. However, supply chain development remains at an early stage and is not yet fully integrated across Europe. The Alliance will map European capabilities and assess how government and EU incentives like the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) project on innovative nuclear technologies (launched in April) and support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) can help close gaps.
Developing a secure and robust fuel supply is also critical. According to the NEA dashboard, 47 SMR designs rely on fuel forms that are not currently available at commercial scale. Urenco’s new £196m ($230m) Advanced Fuels Facility in Capenhurst, UK is expected to produce around 10 tonnes of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel annually from 2030, setting it up to be Europe’s first commercial HALEU facility. At present only Russia and China have industrial facilities that can produce HALEU at scale.
European SMR deployment path
Borovas stresses that clear project structures with “investors willing to take on some of the development and completion risk, as well as robust offtake arrangements with potential customers,” are vital for the first wave of SMR deployment. Meanwhile, Crosbie predicts that final investment decisions on the first European SMR projects are likely to be taken in nations with political support and stability, putting the UK, Romania, Czech Republic and Sweden in the running to be early deployers. Poland – despite political backing – is likely to face barriers when it comes to financing and due to the sheer scale of its programme. The country is also a newcomer to commercial nuclear.
Though timing is uncertain, coordinated regulatory, finance and supply‑chain action make a European SMR rollout feasible. “I think these collaborations are essential enablers… that will help de-risk investment, streamline regulation and demonstrate [SMR] viability at scale. That’s really what the market needs,” Crosbie concludes.
