US Supports Nuclear Power Expansion in Europe, Launches NEXT Program
At the recent Three Seas Initiative Summit in Bucharest, Romania, US special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, announced significant actions aimed at advancing the role of new nuclear technologies in driving the clean energy transition in Europe.
Kerry’s announcement, made during a side event, was part of the United States’ commitment to expanding clean energy solutions in the region. These actions build upon Romania’s pioneering efforts in deploying the first small modular reactor (SMR) in Europe and converting a former coal plant in Romania into an SMR facility.
Kerry’s Project Phoenix initiative, previously introduced at the COP27 climate change conference, has now selected proposals from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia to participate in coal-to-SMR feasibility studies, offering support for their transition to cleaner energy sources.
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The American and Slovakian governments will jointly host a Project Phoenix launch event and workshop in Bratislava on November 9. The side event in Bucharest, held at the University Politehnica of Bucharest, showcased the NuScale SMR simulator training center, a crucial part of the training and development efforts in the nuclear industry.
Kerry also unveiled the Nuclear Expediting the Energy Transition (NEXT) One Stop Shop for SMR Support program during his visit to Bucharest. This program will serve European and Eurasian countries considering SMR deployment by offering a virtual center where they can access advanced project preparation tools and services, including technical, financial, and regulatory consultancies, expert study tours, SMR simulators, and educational partnerships.
Both Project Phoenix and the NEXT One Stop Shop fall under the State Department’s Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) program, emphasizing responsible and secure nuclear energy deployment.
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