Accelerating Nuclear Innovation

Insights from the ENS Symposium on SMRs and Research Reactors

The 2025 edition of the European Research Reactor Conference (RRFM) took place in Aix-en-Provence (France) from 6^th to 10^th April. This year, the international gathering of the research reactor community started with the appreciated Symposium on synergies between the research community and SMR/AMR developers, aiming at bridging expertise, fostering collaboration, and exploring how R&D and related infrastructures can accelerate the next generation of nuclear technologies.

As reminded by the ENS President, Stefano Monti, in his welcome speech,

At a time when nuclear energy is experiencing renewed momentum worldwide, research reactors continue to play a key role. They are not only tools for scientific discovery and education but also key enablers of innovation, material testing, fuel test and qualification, and medical isotope production. These functions are essential as we advance towards the deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs).

The Symposium, co-chaired by ENS President and RRFM Programme Committee Chair, Steven Van Dyck, started with the Session I “Global Perspectives on SMR&AMR Developments – Setting the Stage”.

Jean-Claude Garnier offered a comprehensive overview of the support that CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) provides to French SMR and AMR projects. He underlined the crucial role of fuel in the development of these advanced reactor systems. Depending on the technology, some expertise already exists, while other areas still require significant R&D. For instance, MOX fuel benefits from past qualification experience gained during France’s historical nuclear programme—these lessons can serve as a valuable foundation. In contrast, liquid fuels and entirely new designs will require fresh, full qualification processes to be developed from scratch.

Garnier emphasised the strategic advantage of combining France’s rich legacy of nuclear R&D with forward-looking innovation. As he concluded, “Knowledge from the past is a great value for the future.”

 

From Earth to space, research reactors are also key to enabling ambitious space exploration missions.

This was the central message from Grégoire Lambert (Framatome), who presented Framatome Space’s vision for using nuclear technology to power permanent Moon bases and future Mars missions. Energy supply in space remains a major challenge. For example, the Moon experiences 14 days of darkness at temperatures as low as –130°C, while lunar dust poses serious obstacles for solar panels. Additionally, spacecraft manoeuvres, including orbital changes and debris avoidance, demand a reliable and consistent energy source. In this context, nuclear power may offer the most robust solution.

Framatome is developing a 40 kWe micro-modular reactor (MMR) for space applications and is considering high-TRL fuels such as TRISO or metal fuel. Operating in such extreme environments introduces a new set of technical challenges, including the efficiency of passive safety systems in microgravity, thermal regulation in vacuum, and the need to address regulatory and qualification hurdles on Earth before deployment beyond it.

 

Finally, Dohee Hahn (International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA) presented a global snapshot of SMR activity around the world. Today, 69 designs are under development across 18 countries, reflecting growing international interest in small modular reactors.
To support this momentum, the IAEA has launched a new initiative—the SMR School—designed to serve as an educational platform. These international workshops aim to raise awareness of the technical, regulatory, and economic aspects of SMR development among potential users.

Hahn also highlighted key challenges that must be addressed to ensure successful deployment. These include the need to build credible business cases and to demonstrate the safety and reliability of innovative designs in a timely and coordinated way.

The second session, titled Advancing SMR & AMR Development: R&D Challenges and Collaborative Pathways”, opened with a presentation by Christophe Bruggeman from SCK CEN. Drawing on insights from the Technical Working Group 2 (Technology and R&D&I) of the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs, Bruggeman tackled a pressing question: How can we accelerate the development of SMRs and AMRs?

In his presentation, Bruggeman outlined several research priorities aimed at speeding up deployment. He emphasized that while innovation and technical progress are vital, regulatory approval remains the final and most decisive step. One of the most promising features of SMRs is their potential for serial production, which could drive down costs and enhance profitability. However, this advantage can only be fully realized if licensing frameworks are streamlined across borders, enabling the same reactor design to be deployed in multiple countries without redundant approval processes. An interesting point raised during the talk was the potential use of artificial intelligence to support the licensing process. AI could assist in areas such as analysing national regulatory legacies, making it easier to navigate complex and varying requirements across Europe.

Bruggeman also addressed a challenge often faced by industry players: limited access to research reactors. These facilities play a critical role in testing and validating new reactor concepts, but economic constraints often make irradiation experiments difficult to carry out. Beyond funding, there is also a need for reactors that can offer appropriate fluence and neutron flux, along with supporting infrastructure such as hot cells for post-irradiation examination.

He concluded by underlining the value of RRFM itself: a unique forum that brings together the industry and the research reactor community, creating space for the collaborations needed to overcome these shared challenges.

 

Following Bruggeman’s insights, Joseph Priestley (Urenco) turned attention to a foundational issue in nuclear development: fuel availability. “The development of nuclear reactors depends on the availability of fuel,” he stated, emphasizing that energy independence is becoming increasingly important considering today’s geopolitical challenges.

To meet growing global demand, Urenco is actively working to expand uranium enrichment capacity, with a particular focus on HALEU (High Assay Low Enriched Uranium)—a critical fuel for both research and next-generation reactors. Urenco is planning to bring the first large-scale commercial HALEU enrichment facility in the Western world online by 2031, marking a major milestone for the industry.

Priestley also acknowledged that while HALEU is key for innovation, its introduction presents complex challenges across the fuel cycle. The development of non-light-water reactors (non-LWRs) will require not only new types of fuel but also new regulatory frameworks and revised strategies for long-term waste management. Despite these hurdles, Priestley’s message was clear: “Now is the time for action—to enable both current and future generations of nuclear reactors.”

 

Taking the stage next, Anna Bradford (IAEA) explored the regulatory and safety dimensions of SMR development. She underlined that we are entering a “new era” in nuclear innovation—one that requires special attention and careful coordination among developers, regulators, and international organizations.

The IAEA, through its Division of Nuclear Safety and Security, supports member states by developing safety standards, particularly for novel reactors and fusion technologies. Bradford highlighted the Agency’s role in reviewing documentation and providing feedback—a process that helps identify common issues and recommend improvements.

However, a significant challenge remains: the diversity of national regulations. For SMRs to deliver on their promise of modularity and standardization, a single design must be capable of meeting multiple regulatory requirements. This is not currently the case, and Bradford, recalling also the colleagues’ remarks, stressed the need for harmonization of regulatory approaches across countries. One possible pathway forward could be for regulators to collaborate on reviewing a priority SMR design, building trust and alignment in the process.

She also touched on the IAEA’s ongoing work to define safety standards for non-water-cooled reactors, which are inherently more complex due to the novelty of their technologies. For now, the SMR Regulators’ Forum is prioritizing light-water SMRs, as they are based on already proven technologies.

Finally, Bradford posed an intriguing question: could research reactors themselves be considered SMRs? These facilities already support innovation by enabling fuel and material testing, serving as training tools, and even acting as proof-of-concept platforms. Their role, she suggested, could be more fully integrated into the roadmap for SMR development.

The third and closing session “Innovative SMR & AMR Designs: Bridging Industry and Research” brought together representatives from five nuclear companies and start-ups—Ansaldo (for LFR Consortium), Newcleo, Hexana, Naarea, and Nuward—to share their approaches to SMR development, each exploring a different technological path.

Each start-up presented a distinct strategy. Nuward, for example, is building on familiar ground by focusing on the modularisation of proven pressurised water reactor (PWR) technology. By choosing a well-established design, the company aims to streamline the licensing process, leveraging existing regulatory frameworks to accelerate deployment.

On the other hand, Naarea is working on a molten salt fast reactor (MSR), and Hexana is developing a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). Both ventures are pushing the boundaries of innovation and rely on collaboration with research institutes and national experience—in France, this includes insights drawn from legacy programmes like Rapsodie, Phénix, Superphénix, and the more recent ASTRID project.

Newcleo and Ansaldo are both advancing lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) designs. Notably, Newcleo is also investing in its own MOX fuel manufacturing capabilities, aiming to create a vertically integrated approach that aligns fuel supply with reactor needs.

Naturally, with different technologies come different challenges. While Nuward’s conservative design choice helps navigate the complex licensing landscape, the other companies must focus on demonstrating the safety, reliability, and viability of their more novel reactors. This is no small task, and it underscores the need for access to fast-spectrum research reactors to test materials under realistic conditions.

Several speakers emphasised that real-world experiments remain essential to validate performance and behaviour, especially for fast reactor technologies. However, current limitations in available infrastructure for irradiation testing—particularly in fast neutron environments—pose a “bottleneck”. Solving this issue will be key to advancing many of these designs toward commercial deployment.

The session not only showcased the diverse and ambitious landscape of European SMR innovation but also highlighted the value of collaboration—between industry, regulators, and research institutions—in overcoming the technical and regulatory hurdles that lie ahead.

Throughout the symposium, a clear and consistent message emerged: advancing SMR and AMR technologies will only be possible through strong foundations in research, access to cutting-edge infrastructure, and meaningful international cooperation.

Whether discussing fuel qualification, licensing pathways, or innovative designs, every speaker underlined the essential role that research reactors and experimental facilities play in supporting technology development, safety demonstration, and training. Research is the connecting thread that links regulators, suppliers, developers, and international organisations in this fast-evolving field.

 

 

Ewelina Kucal, ENS YGN Reporter

Mattia Baldoni, ENS Communications Officer