The first General Assembly of the European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors (SMR) opened in Brussels on 29 May and will run until 30 May, attended by the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, and the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Iliana Ivanova.
This assembly brings together 277 members representing industry, research bodies, start-ups, training centres, universities and civil society organisations across the EU.
This is the first time that these members have met since the launch of the Alliance in February (see EUROPE 13347/5), which was followed by a “dissemination” event in March (see EUROPE 13377/10), in particular to set up the Governing Board and the technical working groups.
The Alliance will also present the consolidated eligibility criteria to assess potential SMR projects to support.
The aim of the Alliance is to accelerate the development and deployment of SMRs in Europe by the early 2030s, and to strengthen European cooperation in this field. Commissioner Breton had previously stated that 10 to 20 SMR projects could be launched in Europe over the next 10 years. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)