France’s state-owned utility EDF has announced a major initiative to build a fleet of 10 small modular reactors (SMRs) across the European Union by 2035. The project, estimated to require investments in the “tens of billions” of euros, aims to enhance European energy security and reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports.
The plants will use technology developed by EDF’s NUWARD subsidiary. Each small reactor is designed to produce 400 MW of combined power and flexible industrial heat. The first reactor will be built in France with a second planned for Italy, supported by EDF’s local subsidiary Edison alongside engineering and construction contractors Saipem and Webuild. EDF Senior Vice President Vakisasai Ramany said EDF was also in discussions with governments over the possibility of building some of the small nuclear plants in Poland, Belgium and Finland.
EDF initially envisioned a more complex, proprietary configuration but pivoted to a simpler, more proven technology to insulate the project from the severe delays and budget overruns that had impacted its larger EPR reactors. The target generation cost is estimated at roughly €100 ($115) per MWh. Energy executives emphasise that as highly dispatchable baseload power, its costs should compete directly against gas-fired power plants rather than intermittent renewables.
The announcement coincides with a legislative shift in Italy. The Italian government is expected to officially greenlight a law establishing a national framework for nuclear power generation, effectively overturning a domestic nuclear ban enacted nearly 40 years ago after a public referendum. Additionally, a collaborative European regulatory review – the Joint Early Review – is already easing the multi-country licensing process across participating nations such as France, Czechia, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and the Netherlands.
NUWARD is a specialised subsidiary of the French state-owned utility EDF. It was originally launched in 2019 as a collaborative project with the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA – Commissariat à l’énergie Atomique et aux énergies Alternatives), Naval Group, and TechnicAtome. It was structured into a standalone subsidiary to spearhead the commercialisation of Generation III+ pressurised water reactor (PWR) technology in a small, scalable package.
The technology underwent a massive strategic redesign in July 2024 after hitting a “technological roadblock” and receiving critical feedback from potential European utility clients regarding complexity and economic risk. EDF pulled out of Great British Nuclear’s SMR selection contest to focus entirely on restructuring the project. Following a six-month “pause” to rewrite the strategy, EDF relaunched the subsidiary under new leadership to oversee the transition to a design built exclusively on scaled-down, proven components to guarantee that strict market timelines and budgets could be met.
The redesigned NUWARD platform is a flexible, multi-energy product optimised for industrial co-location. A standard plant delivers up to 400 MWe of electricity and provides up to 100 MWt of high-temperature industrial heat allowing it to power district heating networks, hydrogen production, and seawater desalination plants.
The original layout featured a twin-reactor system (two 170 MWe modules) based on cutting-edge passive safety cooling. The updated architecture uses active safety systems and components that can be manufactured directly using Framatome’s existing supply chains, heavily reducing technical risks. It relies entirely on standardised, factory-prefabricated modules. These are shipped directly to the site for assembly, slashing on-site construction timelines and securing project budgets.
Following its relaunch, NUWARD is progressing through a strict multi-country regulatory track. The new conceptual design and market feasibility studies were completed in mid-2026 with the basic design phase targeting 2028 for a construction start in 2030. Commercial operation and wider EU deployment is planned for 2031–2035.
An advantage for NUWARD is its status as a test case for European regulatory harmonisation. Typically, a nuclear design must undergo completely independent, licensing in every individual country. NUWARD is instead progressing through a Joint Early Review, a multi-national regulatory initiative involving the safety authorities of France (ASN), Czechia, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden. This ensures that the core design will satisfy multiple national regulators, clearing a smoother, faster legal path for the 10 planned EU units.
However, withdrawal of the design in 2024 cleared the path for direct rivals such as Rolls-Royce SMR, GE Hitachi (BWRX-300), Westinghouse, Holtec, and NuScale to dominate the UK pipeline. GE Hitachi also gained ground in Central Europe (notably Poland), and Rolls-Royce advanced in Czech Republic tenders. NUWARD is now trailing the earliest movers by several years.
On the other hand, while NUWARD lost a head start, energy market analysts note the redesign made the reactor significantly more competitive on price. The original design’s complexity suggested a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) exceeding $120/MWh. The simplified design has reduced that to a competitive €70-100/MWh.
European interest in Nuward is reviving, with the French government providing the ultimate backing. It has heavily subsidised the project through a €300m state-aid funding package via the France 2030 investment initiative. France will also host the reference prototype reactor. Italy is working directly with EDF through Edison to deploy a reactor. EDF is in advanced discussions regarding equity investment stakes and reactor deployment with the governments of Poland (considering the technology as a drop-in replacement for ageing coal plants); Belgium (exploring investment stakes and deployment); Finland (partnering on utility feasibility studies and regulatory cooperation); and Greece (named by EDF as an interested European investment partner looking to diversify into small-scale nuclear power).
