Belgian Minister of Energy Mathieu Bihet has announced cooperation between the European EAGLES consortium and French-based nuclear start-up newcleo for development of the LEANDREA (Lead-cooled European Advanced Nuclear DEmonstrator for Research and Applications) project being developed in Belgium.
The Eagles Consortium was established in June 2025 to focus on Generation IV lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) technology with the aim of developing and commercialising EAGLES-300, a next-generation lead-cooled small modular reactor (SMR). The consortium comprises Belgium’s SCK-CEN nuclear research centre; Italy’s National Agency for New Technologies, Energy & Sustainable Economic Development ENEA; Italian company Ansaldo Nucleare; and Romanian Atomic Energy Technology Company RATEN (Regia Autonoma Tehnologii pentru Energia Nucleara).
The LEANDREA project is a low-power LFR nuclear technology demonstrator being developed in Belgium. It serves as the critical first step in a European roadmap to commercialise LFRs. It is the precursor to the ALFRED demonstrator in Romania, with the final goal being the commercial deployment of the EAGLES-300 reactor by 2039.
Newcleo and the EAGLES Consortium will now work together on the realisation of LEANDREA, which expected to be completed by 2034 at SCK CEN. This reactor is being developed as both a technology demonstrator and a test facility for materials and fuels. Once operational, EAGLES and newcleo will benefit from significant irradiation capacity to test new materials and fuels for fast reactors. This supports both the EAGLES and newcleo roadmaps towards commercialisation. Newcleo is developing its own LFR reactor design with commercial deployment planned for the early 2030s.
The LEANDREA design is based as much as possible on proven technology, enabling available knowledge to be converted into results quickly EAGLES and newcleo are now combining their efforts and will share the engineering support and contributions, as well as promotion of LEANDREA as equivalent partners. This collaboration enhances the feasibility of the commercialisation of EAGLES-300, as well as that of newcleo’s LFRAS200, which have both been selected by the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs as champion projects.
Through this collaboration, the EAGLES consortium and newcleo agree to jointly identify and coordinate R&D activities already foreseen in their respective roadmaps that can be shared, with the aim of minimising overlaps in technological development in LEANDREA.
The EAGLES consortium also places strong emphasis on early alignment with nuclear safety regulators. In coordination with competent authorities from Belgium, Italy and Romania, the consortium is conducting an international pre-licensing process for EAGLES 300. This process is a pilot project within the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardisation Initiative (NHSI) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Never before have national regulators collaborated so early in the development of an advanced SMR. By aligning safety requirements and expectations from the start, EAGLES is taking an important step towards harmonised regulation.
“Today, Belgium is putting its decades of nuclear know-how and expertise, fully at the service of Europa, said Energy Minister Bihet. “Through the project of SCK CEN and the EAGLES consortium, dedicated to research and innovation on next-generation lead-cooled reactors, our country asserts its role in developing abundant, competitive, low-carbon energy. Nuclear energy is not just a transitional energy source, but a sustainable and enduring pillar of our energy sovereignty. In this perspective, the fast-neutron reactor sector represents an unavoidable path forward.”
“By signing this agreement we are redefining the lead-cooled fast reactor as Europe’s reference advanced reactor technology,” said newcleo CEO Stefano Buono. “Alongside EAGLES we are pooling together decades of world-class research on LFRs for the benefit of both organisations. This collaboration will consolidate the competitiveness of Europe’s nuclear industry, allowing it to progress at pace and compete in the global race towards a new era of nuclear energy deployment.”
“Bringing advanced nuclear technologies to maturity and market readiness in Europe requires synergies across national boundaries to make the best use of all the expertise available: this is at the focus and the nature of EAGLES Consortium,” said Roberto Adinolfi, | Chairman of the EAGLES Steering Committee and of Ansaldo Nucleare. “Through the cooperation on LEANDREA with newcleo we can reduce duplication, optimise resources, and shorten timelines to our goal.”
Newcleo already has an extensive network involving organisations and companies in Europe, which could potentially complicate co-operation and co-ordination. This new arrangement adds another layer to the complexity.
Currently, the only operating liquid metal-cooled fast reactors are in Russia, using sodium as the coolant. Russia is also constructing the world’s first ever lead-cooled SMR (Brest-OD-300) in Seversk as part of a facility to demonstrate an on-site closed fuel cycle. This reactor, based on decades of complex research and development supported by the entire integrated Russian nuclear industry, is due to begin operation in 2029.
