European new nuclear: Italian revival, Polish agreement, Parisian summit

Recent news from the international nuclear community includes progress across Europe. In Italy, the Senate passed a bill allowing the government to build a framework to bring back nuclear power. Plans for Poland's first nuclear power plant are moving forward, with a partnership between Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe and a Bechtel-Westinghouse consortium now in place. Partners have crafted a memorandum of understanding for the potential deployment of GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300 in Europe and the United Kingdom. And earlier this month, the Roadmaps to New Nuclear conference was held in Paris, France, where OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Director General William Magwood IV gave the opening address.

Nuclear reawakening: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's agenda for reviving nuclear power has advanced with the passage by the country's upper legislative assembly of a bill that creates the regulatory foundation for future nuclear projects. The Associated Press reported that the Italian Senate passed the legislation by an 81-51 vote, with seven abstentions, to authorize the government to draft implementing decrees within one year regarding nuclear reactor licensing, safety standards, waste management, decommissioning, and other criteria.

The lower legislative assembly previously passed a similar bill. The legislation allows for the establishment of a legal framework for nuclear power, furthering Meloni's goal of deploying advanced nuclear technologies to improve Italy's energy security. The legislation also supports fusion research and the potential establishment of an independent nuclear safety authority.

Italy shut down its four operating nuclear reactors after the 1986 Chernobyl accident raised safety and health concerns among the public about nuclear power. A referendum in 1987 confirmed negative public attitudes toward nuclear energy, and another vote following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident also revealed overwhelming public opposition to the power source. Despite the negative public attitudes toward nuclear energy, Italy consumes large amounts of electricity generated by nuclear power plants in neighboring countries.

Meloni's government has argued that nuclear power is essential to meet Italy's increasing electricity demands, targets for greenhouse gas reductions, and national security-related energy needs-needs that were amplified by the energy shocks that hit Europe as a result of the anti-Russia sanctions that have blocked the import of Russian energy resources.

While the government hopes to have new nuclear capacity by the mid-2030s, the country's push for power has not yet found widespread popular support. Public opinion surveys suggest that roughly half of the public remains opposed to the deployment of new nuclear reactors but that younger people are increasingly open to adding nuclear power into Italy's energy mix, the AP has reported.

On the passing of the legislation, the AP quoted Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italy's minister for environment and energy security, as saying that nuclear power "isn't a return to the past. When integrated with renewables, it's a winning technology, which can give extraordinary results for our energy security."

Michele Governatori, a senior energy adviser with the Italian climate and energy think tank ECCO, cautioned that the legislation's creation of a regulatory framework does not necessarily mean that private investment in nuclear projects will follow. He was quoted by the AP as saying, "Having a regulatory framework in place is positive, but it will also make clear the limited interest of private investors in technologies that are either not competitive today or not yet ready, such as SMRs."

BWRX-300 MOU: Synthos Green Energy, GE Vernova, Hitachi, and Samsung C&T earlier this week signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a framework for cooperating on market development and commercial opportunities for the BWRX-300 in Central and Eastern Europe and the United Kingdom.

The BWRX-300 was developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, and construction is underway in Canada on the first deployment of the reactor.

Under the new MOU, the companies will work together to assess market conditions, further develop deployment strategies, and investigate commercial opportunities for the BWRX-300. Signed in New York City on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, the agreement is linked to a broader memorandum of cooperation for SMR deployment signed at this year's NATO summit by the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

Progress on a Polish first: State-owned utility Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe signed an agreement with the Bechtel-Westinghouse consortium covering the main commercial terms on the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of Poland's first nuclear power plant. This plant, to be sited at Lubiatowo-Kopalino in Pomerania, will include three Westinghouse AP1000 units with a total installed capacity of 3,750 MWe.

The agreement was characterized as an important step toward the eventual signing of the full EPC contract. PEJ and Bechtel-Westinghouse agreed to complete their negotiations for this contract by the end of this year.

The second stage of preparatory work currently is underway at Lubiatowo-Kopalino, including grading and leveling, upgrading drainage systems, and constructing temporary roads to support future development. In-depth geological surveys are also being conducted. Furthermore, PEJ has applied for a construction permit with Poland's State Atomic Energy Agency, and the company expects to apply for a building permit next year.

Parisian Roadmaps: Last week, the Roadmaps to New Nuclear conference, cohosted by the OECD NEA and the United States, was held in Paris. In attendance were senior government officials from several companies, industry executives, representatives from technology companies and financial institutions, and young professionals from around the world.

The conference was a high-level forum for governments and industry to discuss the acceleration of nuclear energy deployment and the strengthening of energy security.

Magwood delivered the opening address, noting that "more than any other time in my career, energy security is a driving principle of energy policy for most countries represented today. In parallel, we see that after decades of very flat growth, electricity demand is rising rapidly. Access to reliable, secure, cost-effective electricity, even more than in the past, is a key determinant of economic and societal success and progress both in OECD countries and the Global South."

Conference participants discussed the conditions needed to accelerate nuclear deployment at scale, focusing on such issues as financing, fuel supply security, workforce development, construction risks, and policy and regulatory frameworks for delivering new projects. Other topics included the connections between nuclear energy and artificial intelligence and SMR developments.