Tractebel To Support France’s NUWARD SMR Project

Tractebel (ENS Corporate Member) will provide engineering services to deliver NUWARD ™, a small modular reactor technology.

The construction of the reference plant is expected to start in 2030 and its deployment will contribute to meeting growing European demand for carbon-neutral, safe, and affordable electricity. 

Tractebel’s experts will conduct studies for the completion of the conceptual design of the first SMR in the European Union.

The NUWARD™ consortium, led by EDF (ENS Corp. Member), brings together the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), TechnicAtome, Naval Group and Framatome (ENS Corp. Member).

Its design will consist of a 340 MWe pressurized water SMR plant with two reactors of 170 MWe each. It will be based on first-class French nuclear pressurized water reactor technologies.

Read more on Tractebel Press Release.

The NUWARD will be a multi-purpose plant, with a design that can be adapted for several uses including green hydrogen production, desalinisation and heat cogeneration.

This is another key attraction of SMRs – their potential uses beyond the production of electricity for established grids. 

The International Energy Agency has noted that SMRs could help provide flexibility in countries with large electricity grids, or be used in countries or regions with small electricity grids that would not be appropriate for large baseload nuclear power plants.

Last September, NucNet interviewed the French companies members of the consortium to learn more about the last developments of the SMR project: France / Country In Race For Share Of SMR Market As NUWARD Project Makes Most Of Domestic Technology