France-based nuclear start-up newcleo and Slovak state-owned Nuclear and Decommissioning Company JAVYS (Jadrová A Vyraďovacia Společnost) have signed a shareholder agreement to establish a Centre for Development of Spent Nuclear Fuel Utilisation (CVP – Centrum pre Vývoj Využitia Vyhoretého Jadrového Paliva) as a joint venture company. This follows the signing of framework cooperation agreements with JAVYS and VUJE in January.
The newly established joint venture, owned 51% by JAVYS and 49% by newcleo, will focus on developing a project to build four LFR-AS-200 reactors with a total output of 800 MWe at the Jaslovské Bohunice site fuelled with MOX fuel fabricated from used fuel extracted from Slovakia’s reactors. Newcleo is developing lead-cooled fast reactor technology. The aim is to reprocess the used fuel in France and assemble new fuel rods at newcleo’s planned French MOX facility which would then be used to power the LFR-AS-200 units creating a closed nuclear fuel cycle.
newcleo said it intends to use this model as a blueprint for operations in other countries who have an existing nuclear fleet or legacy used fuel as a way of managing what might otherwise be considered a waste product in a sustainable manner.
The JV will immediately begin working on a comprehensive feasibility study for deploying LFR-AS-200 reactors at the Jaslovské Bohunice site. The study, financed by newcleo, will be prepared over the next 12 months. Once completed, a decision confirming or not confirming the overall technical and economic feasibility of the project, including its financing, conceptual design, timetable and total cost.
In parallel, the parties will continue cooperating with the French government and nuclear fuel supply chain to develop and deploy used nuclear fuel transportation and reprocessing solutions, as well as continuing to advance newcleo’s fuel manufacturing facility in France.
Peter Gerhart, Chairman of the Board of JAVYS, said: “Our goal is to create a solution that will not only strengthen Slovakia’s energy system but will also be a model for the entire European region in the field of safe and efficient use of used nuclear fuel.”
The signing ceremony, which took place in Rome, was attended by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Denisa Saková, and Italy’s Minister of the Environment & Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin.
According to newcleo’s delivery roadmap, the first non-nuclear pre-cursor prototype of its lead-cooled fast reactor is expected to be ready by 2026 in Italy, the first reactor operational in France by the end of 2031, while the final investment decision for the first commercial power plant is expected around 2029.
Since its establishment, newcleo has been very active in fundraising and signing partnership and collaboration agreements. Its business now counts over 90 partnerships, and more than 1,000 employees based in 19 locations across France, Italy, the UK, Switzerland, and Slovakia, including three manufacturing facilities.
While newcleo’s website extol the virtues of the LFR, there is scant detail of the nuclear technology that will power the reactor, although there appears to be some progress on non-nuclear components of the design.
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). This reactor is based on decades of complex research and development supported by the entire Russian nuclear industry. It is due to begin operation in 2029. By contrast, newcleo’s technologies remain in the very early conceptual design stage.
