France-based nuclear start-up Naarea (Nuclear Abundant Affordable Resourceful Energy for All) and Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) have signed a strategic partnership to develop educational programmes in fast neutron and molten salt reactor technologies. UM6P is recognised for its academic excellence and commitment to research and development, focusing on education and innovation in new technologies.

UM6P offers high-level programmes from undergraduate degrees to doctoral studies, including engineering and master’s curricula, covering a wide range of disciplines such as industrial management, mining, engineering, agriculture, solar and renewable energies, and entrepreneurship.

Naarea and UM6P, through its Physics School, have entered into a strategic partnership focused on the following areas:

  • Mobility of engineering students, doctoral candidates and faculty members;
  • Joint research (collaborative projects, seminars, conferences and public events);
  • Joint applications for research funding;
  • Knowledge sharing (exchange of publications, academic resources and scientific information);
  • Participation in higher education programmes with a contribution to doctoral and research master’s programmes;
  • Joint initiatives for comparative analysis and improving academic standards;
  • Short academic programmes; and
  • Online teaching and digital learning.

The collaboration will be fully implemented during the 2025-2026 academic year. The Nuclear Engineering programme, currently being launched at UM6P, will begin with specialised studies integrated into existing programmes to allow a gradual introduction to this specialisation. The collaboration has begun with an initial phase involving sessions to raise awareness among students and inform them about the programme.

Naarea, founded in 2020 by Jean-Luc Alexandre and Ivan Gavriloff, is developing the XAMR (eXtrasmall Advanced Modular Reactor), a molten salt fast neutron micro-generator (40 MWe or 80 MWt). The company has received support from the French Alternative Energies & Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) as well as industry players such as Assystem, Dassault Systèmes, Orano and Framatome.