The first pre-licensing project for a small modular reactor (SMR) was launched during the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) 69th General Conference in Vienna. The project, launched under the IAEA’s Nuclear Harmonisation & Standardisation Initiative (NHSI), is the first step in the initiative to facilitate the safe and secure deployment of advanced reactors and SMRs.
The international pre-licensing pilot project focuses on the EAGLES-300 SMR design, based on Generation IV lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) technology, which targets delivery of its first demonstrator by 2035 and development the EAGLES-300 SMR by 2039.
The EAGLES Consortium was established in June with the aim of developing and commercialising EAGLES-300. 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 pre-licensing project will help the nuclear regulators of Belgium, Romania and Italy harmonise their regulatory approaches to support development of EAGLES-300. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi described it as “a leap forward for Europe’s nuclear innovation and a strong example of regional cooperation”. The initiative was launched with a signing ceremony involving the EAGLES Consortium and the nuclear regulators of Belgium (FANC – Federaal Agentschap voor Nucleaire Controle), Italy (ISIN – Ispettorato nazionale per la sicurezza nucleare e la radioprotezione), and Romania (CNCAN – Comisia Nationala pentru Controlul Activitatilor Nucleare.
As the first pilot project under the NHSI, this represents an important step toward cross-border harmonisation of nuclear safety regulations. “Our support of this pre-licensing joint review effort is a natural next step of the IAEA’s Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI), which is helping to ensure SMRs move from development to deployment in a safe and timely way,” said Grossi. “Almost every day the IAEA gets inquiries about when SMRs will be available. From developing countries looking to power growing electricity grids to technology companies needing electricity for AI data centres, the need for low-carbon, reliable nuclear energy in the form of SMRs is there and the IAEA is at the centre of the international effort to make sure this demand can be met, with due consideration for safety, security and safeguards.”
Key features of EAGLES-300 include: high power output and grid flexibility with around 350MWe power, also suitable for industrial heat supply and hydrogen production; a modular design enabling lower construction investment, faster construction and flexible deployment; and optimised fuel management through the use of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel including recycled materials, reducing radioactive waste and enhancing sustainability.
The EAGLES consortium has access to two key test facilities: Mol in Belgium where the LEANDREA technology demonstrator will focus on fuel and materials testing; and Pitești in Romania where the ALFRED project will be upgraded to serve as a stepping stone toward commercial deployment.
A 300 MWt demonstration ALFRED unit is expected to be built at RATEN-ICN’s facility in Mioveni, near Pitesti in Romania, where a fuel manufacturing plant supplies fuel for Romania’s Cernavoda NPP. ALFRED is to prepare the way for a 300-400 MWe industrial demonstration unit, featuring passive safety systems, which will use mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and operate at temperatures of around 550°C. The total cost of the project was estimated at some €1.0bn.
“We are technically and scientifically on track. With our two key test facilities, LEANDREA and ALFRED, we will work step by step towards the commercialization of the EAGLES-300 in 2039 and its broad rollout,” the EAGLES Consortium said. “Taking this pre-licensing step now is therefore a crucial milestone on the road towards commercialisation, just two months after our foundation.”
EAGLES-300 previously referred to as the EU-SMR-LFR, was one of two lead-cooled fast reactor proposals selected by the European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors, a European Commission initiative to facilitate and accelerate the development, demonstration, and deployment of the first SMR projects in Europe in the early 2030s.
European research on LFRs dates back to 2006 and has gone through numerous iterations involving the same partners. Initially Ansaldo Nucleare coordinated Euratom’s project ELSY (European Lead cooled SYstem) to develop a pre-conceptual design of an industrial lead-cooled fast reactor for electricity production based on a closed fuel cycle. Following ELSY’s completion (2010), under the EU 7th framework programme, Ansaldo became the lead organisation of the LEADER project (Lead-cooled European Advanced DEmonstration Reactor). This aimed to develop a conceptual design of a lead fast reactor industrial size plant (the European LFR – ELFR) and of a scaled demonstrator of the LFR technology called ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator).
In 2019, Romanian utility Nuclearelectrica signed a MOU with the Fostering ALfred CONstruction (FALCON) consortium for cooperation on ALFRED, planned for construction in Romania. FALCON had been established in 2013, comprising ENEA and Ansaldo Nucleare, as well as Romania’s RATEN-ICN, and later CV-Rez. Ansaldo Nucleare led the conceptual design of ALFRED. ENEA was responsible for the core design, technological development and safety analyses.
In 2021, a consortium comprising Ansaldo Nucleare and Reinvent Energy (Romania) was awarded a €20m contract for the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of the Advanced Thermo-Hydraulics Experiment for Nuclear Application (ATHENA) experimental plant – a research facility for the development of lead-cooled reactors. ATHENA is planned to be built at RATEN-ICN’s Pitesti research centre and will include a 2.21 MWt pool-type plant housing 880 tonnes of liquid lead in a main vessel. This facility will also house scale components for testing and demonstration of technology for LFR reactors.
The consortium is supported by ENEA and Italian engineering company SRS for the conceptual and executive design of the technological part, as well as by Romania’s Ispe and Somet (for the design of civil works and installation. The project involves the construction of an electrical core simulator, a main pump and a heat exchanger similar to the arrangement of the ALFRED system.
In 2022, the Belgian government entrusted the task of identifying innovative SMRs to SCK CEN, as well as the search for suitable partners to develop lead-cooled fast SMRs. This was to start with a small reactor to demonstrate the technological and engineering aspects of commercial SMR-LFR at SCK CEN’s Mol site in Belgium by 2035-2040. In the meantime, the group continued to work on ALFRED, expanding the work done in the previous 10 years by Ansaldo Nucleare, ENEA and RATEN within the FALCON consortium.
Currently all these projects are in the conceptual and design stages with testing only taking place on non-nuclear components. To date, the only operating liquid metal-cooled fast reactors are in Russia, using sodium as the coolant. Russia is also constructing the world’s first lead-cooled small modular reactor (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, and supported by the entire Russian nuclear industry, is due to begin operation in 2029. It remains to be seen whether the 2039 deadline for the EAGLES-300 can be met.
In May 2025, FANC and SCK CEN launched a formal preliminary consultation on an innovative SMR using lead-cooled fast reactor technology. The consultation, which will last two and a half years, aims to identify and, if possible, correct potential obstacles to a possible permit application. Romanian nuclear regulator CNCAN and the IAEA will also take part in the consultations.
This was the precursor to the international pre-licensing pilot project. Pre-licensing is a structured, exploratory process that allows nuclear regulators and technology developers to engage in early dialogue – before a formal licensing application is submitted. Its purpose is to build mutual understanding of safety expectations, technical challenges, and regulatory frameworks. The approach is typically top-down: starting from high-level safety principles and gradually moving toward more detailed technical discussions.
In the next phase, licensing becomes a formal process. Each national regulator will assess whether the reactor design meets all legal and technical requirements for safety, security, radiation protection, and environmental impact.
The launch of the EAGLES-300 pre-licensing pilot was one of several EAGLES activities during the IAEA’s 69th General Conference. At the EU Member States Area, the consortium hosted a one-day stand showcasing the EAGLES-300 project and its role as a pilot under NHSI’s Regulatory Track. In addition, a side event titled EAGLES: Towards a European Advanced Lead-Cooled Small Modular Reactor featured panel discussions with Steering Committee members, national regulators, and NHSI/IAEA representatives.
