French government selects six start-ups for small projects with modular nuclear reactors

By Team IO

Six French start-ups get to work on projects involving the construction of small innovative nuclear reactor projects, known as Small Modular Reactors (SMR). So reports the Dutch embassy in Paris. During a ceremony at the Ministry of Energy Transition, Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher revealed the names of the winning start-ups.

The call launched in March 2022 by this French initiative for projects involving “innovative nuclear reactors” worth €500 million yielded some 15 applications. In June 2023, the first two winners, Naarea and Newcleo, who shared a €25 million grant, were already announced.

On the eve of the international nuclear fair in Paris, the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher revealed the names of the six new winners. These six start-ups will receive a total of €77.2 million in funding, plus another €18.9 million in technical support from the CEA research institute.

What are SMRs?

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are advanced nuclear reactors with up to 300 MW of power per unit, about one-third the power of traditional nuclear reactors. SMRs can produce a large amount of low-carbon electricity and have three characteristics:

1. Small – much smaller than a conventional nuclear reactor.
2. Modular – allowing systems and components to be factory assembled and transported as a unit to an installation site.
3. Reactors – they use nuclear fission to generate heat and produce energy.

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Three start-ups from CEA

Jimmy, a CEA startup, has received a €32 million grant to industrialize its generator, the first unit of which will be put into service in 2026 at an industrial site in France. Jimmy designs thermal generators that produce low-carbon heat that is cheaper than fossil fuel heat. In March 2024, it will be announced where and for whom Jimmy’s first project will be launched.

The five other winners include three CEA start-ups: Blue Capsule, with its project for a high-temperature sodium coolant reactor (sodium fast reactor); Otrera Nuclear Energy and Hexana, with two projects for sodium coolant fast neutron reactors; and Calogena, a subsidiary of Groupe Gorgé, with a project for a 30-MW low-pressure water nuclear boiler for district heating, funded to the tune of 5.2 million euros. The sixth project is not a fission reactor but a fusion reactor: Renaissance Fusion. The start-up aims to develop a modular stellarator-type reactor with an electrical capacity of 1GW. However, the project is still at a very early stage. The other applications are still under review so that other projects could be considered for support.

Revolutionizing Energy: Renaissance Fusion’s Quest for Sustainable Nuclear Fusion

Renaissance Fusion, a Grenoble-based start-up, aims to decarbonize energy production with nuclear fusion technology.

Safety system

Of the eight SMR and AMR (advanced modular reactor) projects funded by France 2030, six will receive technical support from the CEA: the three start-ups from its own ranks, the Naarea project, the Newcleo project, and the Renaissance Fusion project.

CEA is also working to validate the passive safety system based on natural convection cooling in EDF Nuward’s SMR project.