On Friday 26 April, the European Commission announced that it had approved a French State aid measure worth €300 million to support Nuward, a subsidiary of Électricité de France (EDF), in researching and developing small modular nuclear reactors with a power output equivalent to or less than 300 MWe.
The Commission has indicated that the aid, in the form of a direct grant, will support the front-end design and the third phase of the overall Nuward project, which comprises five phases. The aid will support the R&D project until early 2027, as well as industrialisation studies relating to the modular design and mass production of SMRs. The measure will also enable Nuward to prepare the safety demonstrations required for approval by the national nuclear safety authorities.
Previously, in December 2022, the Commission approved a French measure worth €50 million to support the second phase of the project.
The Commission assessed the aid under Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the 2022 Framework for State aid for research, development and innovation. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)