Let’s go! 6.6 GW new nuclear 💪🏼

“There’s no solution to nuclear waste” Finland: “Hold my beer”

Nuclear energy and renewables get broad support for proposed EU Energy Framework for 2040 🇪🇺 A majority of EU member states are now calling for nuclear energy and renewables to be treated on equal terms in the EU's future energy framework. The French-led Nuclear Alliance, consisting of 15 EU countries, has called on the European Commission to introduce a technology-neutral clean energy target for 2040 that recognises both nuclear and renewables. Surprisingly, Germany has also expressed support for a technology-neutral energy framework. Back in 2021, Germany joined Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg and Portugal in signing a declaration against including nuclear energy in the EU's sustainable finance taxonomy. However, its position at EU level has changed under Chancellor Friedrich Merz. In July this year, France and Germany agreed to establish a regular dialogue on the EU's 2040 energy framework, supporting equal treatment of renewable and other low-carbon energy technologies. In a joint statement following the Franco-German Ministerial Council in July, the two countries agreed to work together "to ensure reliability and investment certainty for renewable and low-carbon energy as well as non-discrimination among all net-zero and low-carbon energy technologies in their respective contribution to European energy, sustainability and climate goals." Meanwhile, Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg recently called for a dedicated renewable energy target for 2040 rather than a broader clean energy target. Interestingly, Denmark did not sign the letter, despite previously being among the countries opposing greater recognition of nuclear energy at EU level. The shifting political balance could have considerable implications for EU energy policy, particularly regarding technology-neutral targets, financing and investment in new nuclear capacity. Nuclear energy is gaining political support across Europe, including in countries that have previously been strongly opposed.

The Darlington SMR Project now has an official estimated LCOE of ~€95/MWh for four BWRX-300s When I last wrote about the four BWRX-300 reactors being built at Darlington, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) had not disclosed the expected LCOE for the project. That number has now been made public by OPG in a answer to the Ontario Energy Board. OPG projects an average LCOE of C$149/MWh in 2024 dollars, equivalent to around €95/MWh in 2025 euros, across the full four-reactor project. Unit 1 is planned to enter service in 2030, with all four units expected to be in operation by 2035. This is particularly interesting in the context of the construction costs I looked at in my previous post. After adjusting OPG’s headline project budget for escalation and interest during construction, I estimated an average overnight construction cost of around €8,200/kW across the four units in 2025 euros. The estimated OCC declined significantly through the build programme, from around €10,700/kW for Unit 1 to €6,900/kW for Unit 4. The €95/MWh is therefore an average that includes the first-of-a-kind (FOAK) BWRX-300 together with the three subsequent units benefiting from repetition, shared infrastructure and learning. OPG has not published individual LCOEs for the four reactors, but the substantial decline in capital cost towards Unit 4 would, all else equal, also be expected to translate into a lower LCOE for the later units. There is of course still uncertainty around the estimate. Unit 1 and the shared infrastructure have reached OPG’s Release Quality Estimate (RQE), based on a Class 3 cost estimate, while Units 2-4 are currently based on Class 4 estimates and will be refined as engineering progresses and experience from Unit 1 is incorporated. So €95/MWh should not be read as a final realised cost, but it is a useful real-world benchmark for a four-unit SMR project already under construction, and one that already includes the FOAK reactor.

Italy is bringing nuclear power back after almost 40 years 🤌🇮🇹 Italy’s parliament has given final approval to legislation paving the way for nuclear power to return, almost four decades after the country began closing its reactors following the 1987 referendum. The new law gives the government 12 months to establish the regulatory framework covering areas such as licensing, safety, spent fuel and future nuclear facilities. Italy is primarily looking towards SMRs, including both light-water technologies and more advanced reactor types. A June 2026 survey found that around 55% of Italians now support next-generation nuclear power plants. We see exactly the same level of public support in Denmark, a country that also has a ban on nuclear energy. Across Europe, countries that were previously opposed to the use of nuclear energy in their energy production are starting to shift.

Fun fact: Sweden has four nuclear reactors that have each generated more electricity than all Danish wind turbines ever. Forsmark 3 and Oskarshamn 3 started in 1985, the year Denmark banned nuclear. Both still ahead of Denmark’s entire wind fleet.

EU Chief puts nuclear and renewables side by side 🤝 Nuclear energy was placed directly alongside renewables in Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address this week. "When Russia cut us off the gas, we fought back. Our supplies are now more diversified. We insvested in our homegrown clean energies, and this is renewables and nuclear.", said Von der Leyen in her speech. Von der Leyen then called for Europe to double down on affordable and homegrown clean energy being renewables and nuclear adding “Technologically neutral.” as the basis. For context nuclear energy produced around 651 TWh in the EU last year corresponding to 23.2% of all electricity generation in the EU. On an individual technology basis, nuclear remained the largest source of EU electricity, ahead of natural gas and wind. At the same time, gas-fired generation increased by 8.6% in 2025 as hydro and wind generation fell. The European Commission's own final Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC) now estimates that around €241 billion in the base case will be invested in lifetime extensions and new reactors by 2050. EU nuclear capacity may increase from around 98 GW today to roughly 144 GW by 2050, with further investment expected in SMRs and advanced reactors.

Steady Energy secures up to €115 million in financing with the EIB on board 🇪🇺 Finnish SMR developer Steady Energy has announced a major financing round alongside plans to become publicly listed on Nasdaq First North Finland. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing the company with a convertible loan of up to €40 million. This is the first investment the EIB has made in SMR technology. On top of that Steady has secured €69.8 million through a private placement with institutional and strategic investors including Fortum , Finnish pension funds, Tesi and ORLEN VC. In addition, Steady Energy is launching a public offering of up to €5 million. Combined, the private placement, EIB financing and public offering amount to up to €114.8 million in new financing. Let’s go Steady 🚀

Sweden’s nuclear applications now cover up to ~11 GW, potentially exceeding the government’s 10 GW ambition for 2045 💥 Last week, I posted an updated map showing applications covering up to ~8 GW of new nuclear capacity in Sweden. I thought this would be the last update in a while. Turns out, I was wrong the very next day. Now I’m starting to run out of space on the map. Fortum-owned NuCore Energi has now applied for state aid for a new nuclear project in Oskarshamn with a potential capacity of 1.2-3.4 GW. And today, another one of the projects moved significantly forward. Studsvik has selected GE Vernova Hitachi and Samsung C&T as strategic collaborators for its ReFirm programme. The first project is now planned around four BWRX-300 reactors with a combined capacity of approximately 1.2 GW. This takes the maximum capacity covered by applications for new nuclear in Sweden to around 11 GW. That is now above the 10 GW level the Swedish government has used in its nuclear roadmap for 2045. There's now a total of seven proposed sites in the pipeline: 1️⃣ Videberg Kraft at Ringhals has applied for state aid for new nuclear. Rolls-Royce SMR has since been selected as supplier, with the project planned around three 470 MW reactors with a combined capacity of around 1.4 GW. 2️⃣ Kärnfull Next – a Studsvik company, has applied for site approval in Valdemarsvik for 4-6 SMRs with a total capacity of around 1.2-1.6 GW. Both Valdemarsvik and Nyköping are included in Studsvik’s ReFirm state-aid application and is one of two possible locations for the first 1.2 GW BWRX-300 project by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Samsung C&T Corporation. 3️⃣ Blykalla has applied for both site approval and state aid for its project at Norrsundet. The project consists of six SEALER-55 reactors with a combined capacity of 330 MW. 4️⃣ Studsvik has applied for site approval at its existing site in Nyköping for 2-4 light-water reactors with a total capacity of around 0.6-1.4 GW. 5️⃣ Nordic Baseload Power AB has applied for both site approval and state aid for new nuclear at Barsebäck. The project consists of two large-scale boiling water reactors with a combined capacity of around 2.5 GW. 6️⃣ Blykalla has applied for site approval for a second reactor park at Untra in Tierp municipality. The project could consist of up to eight SEALER reactors with a combined capacity of up to 440 MW. No state-aid application has been announced for this project so far. 7️⃣ Fortum has applied for state aid for a new nuclear project at Oskarshamn covering 1.2-3.4 GW. The reactor technology has not yet been selected, with Fortum working with EDF and Westinghouse Electric Company and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co.,Ltd. on large-scale reactor alternatives and GE Vernova Hitachi on the SMR alternative. The ~11 GW figure is the maximum capacity covered by the different applications, so it obviously does not mean that all 11 GW will be built.

Applications covering up to ~8 GW of new nuclear capacity in Sweden 🚀 Only a few months ago, I made a post about applications for up to ~5 GW of new nuclear capacity in Sweden. Well, I already need to update the map. Since then, Nordic Baseload Power has applied for site approval and state support for 2.5 GW of new nuclear at Barsebäck, several of the projects from my original post have moved further ahead, and yesterday Blykalla submitted an application for a second reactor park in Sweden. There are now six proposed sites in Sweden: 1️⃣ Videberg Kraft has applied for state aid for new nuclear at Ringhals. Since my last post, Rolls-Royce SMR has been selected as supplier, with the project now planned around three 470 MW reactors with a combined capacity of 1.4 GW. The Swedish state has also decided to become a 60% owner of Videberg Kraft, alongside Vattenfall and Industrikraft Sverige with 20% each. 2️⃣ Kärnfull Next – a Studsvik company has applied for site approval in Valdemarsvik. The plan covers 4-6 SMRs with a total capacity of around 1.2-1.6 GW. 3️⃣ Blykalla has applied for both site approval and state support for its project in Norrsundet, Gävle. The project consists of six SEALER-55 reactors with a total capacity of 330 MW. 4️⃣ Studsvik has applied for site approval at its existing site in Nyköping, covering 2-4 light-water reactors with a total capacity of around 0.6-1.4 GW. The Nyköping project is also included in Studsvik’s state-aid application, which covers both Nyköping and Valdemarsvik. 5️⃣ Nordic Baseload Power AB has applied for site approval and state aid for two large-scale boiling water reactors at Barsebäck in Southern Sweden, with a combined capacity of around 2.5 GW. 6️⃣ Blykalla has submitted an application for a second reactor park at Untra in the Tierp municipality. The project consists of eight SEALER reactors with a combined capacity of 440 MW. The ~8 GW figure is the maximum capacity covered across the six proposed sites, so it does not mean that all 8 GW will necessarily be built. But Sweden has gone from reopening the door for new nuclear to having several companies developing projects across six different sites, using both conventional light-water reactors and advanced reactor technologies.

Some go on vacation to lie on the beach. I go to Europe’s oldest operating nuclear power plant. Beznau, Switzerland. Operating since 1969 and still going strong ⚛️🇨🇭

No, French nuclear reactors did not shut down because they could not cool During the latest heatwave, several headlines made it sound as if French nuclear reactors had to close because the reactors themselves technically could no longer be cooled. That is not what happened. Some reactors were curtailed because of environmental regulation on river temperatures and water discharge. To protect downstream ecosystems, EDF must comply with strict environmental thresholds. Some plants are required to ensure that the river does not exceed a maximum temperature after cooling water is returned, even when the water on average is returned only around 0.2°C warmer. That is very different from saying the reactors could not technically cool themselves. Nuclear reactors have no problem using "hot" intake water as cooling. Coastal reactors are also not exposed to the same river-temperature constraints, why this "problem" mostly concern inland power plants. Looking at the actual generation data gives a useful sense of scale. From 1 to 16 June, French nuclear generation averaged 38.9 GW. From 17 to 30 June, during the heatwave period, it averaged 38.2 GW. In other words, French nuclear generation changed surprisingly little. Records from the French transmission system operator RTE Réseau de Transport d'Electricité show that nuclear capacity averaging 2.7 GW, equal to around 4.3% of the French nuclear fleet, was unavailable because of environmental regulation during the heatwave period (June 17 to June 30). But this did not translate one-for-one into lower French nuclear generation. Aggregate output stayed broadly steady, likely because other available reactors partly absorbed the effect and because unavailable capacity is not the same as guaranteed lost production. That does not mean there was no impact. A few GW of constrained nuclear capacity can matter when consumption rises during a heat wave. But it's not only nuclear that is affected. We could apply the same logic to other energy sources. Wind generation also dropped right as the heatwave began on 17 June. Solar panels become less efficient at high temperatures. Demand rises because of cooling needs. Heatwaves affect the whole energy system, not only nuclear power.

After public demand, all y-axes have now been placed on the same scale

Everyone dunking on French nuclear this week while the big red rectangle just sits there doing its job 🫠

Only 5% of French nuclear capacity curtailed for environmental reasons Several media outlets, including The Guardian, Yahoo/Weather News and GB News, have covered the heatwave’s impact on French nuclear power and how this affects European electricity prices. Some of the framing makes it sound as if the reactors cannot technically cool themselves when river temperatures rise. This is misleading. Under French environmental regulation, nuclear plants must comply with water discharge thresholds designed to protect the rivers downstream of the plants. The threshold is about the river, downstream environmental limits and protection of aquatic life. That is a different issue from whether the reactor can physically cool itself. I pulled the production unavailability data from the French transmission system operator Réseau de Transport d'Électricité and filtered for nuclear records linked to environmental issues. Up to 24 June at 12:00 CEST, the curtailments are concentrated in three units: Golfech 2, Bugey 3 and Nogent 2, with the maximum simultaneous unavailable capacity in this window around 3 GW. That corresponds to around 5% of France’s installed nuclear capacity of around 61 GW. According to press releases by EDF, the reactors were stopped to comply with environmental regulation because river temperatures were expected to reach regulatory limits. EDF also explains that water used by the plant is returned to the river at a slightly higher temperature, around +0.2°C on average depending on the power level. The latest RTE updates also suggest that other units, including Nogent 1 and St Alban 2, could be affected later in the period depending on weather forecasts. That is worth following, but it also shows why these numbers should be handled carefully as the situation develops. A few GW of curtailed nuclear capacity will only explain a small part of the price spikes in the power markets during a heatwave. It should be put in proportion before it becomes the main explanation for high electricity prices across Europe. During the same 22–24 June window, France was also still a net electricity exporter on average. A country that normally supplies large volumes of electricity to neighbouring systems is now being presented mainly as a source of weakness because a few reactors are temporarily constrained by river-temperature rules.

Rolls Royce SMR to built Sweden’s first new nuclear power plant in more than 40 years! Videberg Kraft, owned by Vattenfall and Industrikraft Sverige, has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as supplier for new nuclear power at the Värö Peninsula next to Ringhals. The project is planned to consist of three SMRs of 470 MW each (~1500 MW total), with expected annual production of around 12 TWh of fossil-free electricity. Following recent applications and project developments for new nuclear power across Sweden, the selection is another sign that Sweden is moving ahead with new clean firm power to support electrification, industry and security of supply. Rolls-Royce SMR has also been selected by Great British Energy - Nuclear for the UK’s first SMRs, and has signed a contract with ČEZ group to start work on the Czech Republic’s first SMR programme. Congratulations to Rolls-Royce SMR and Videberg Kraft on this milestone.

Applications for up to ~5 GW of new nuclear capacity in Sweden 🚀 Since December last year, Sweden has received four major applications related to new nuclear energy. This comes after several years of political work to reopen the door for new nuclear and prepare for up to 10 GW of new capacity by 2045. The applications are not all the same. Some are about site approval, while the Ringhals project is about state aid and financing support. 1️⃣ Videberg Kraft, owned by Vattenfall and Industrikraft Sverige, has applied for state aid for new reactors at Ringhals. That project is around 1.5 GW. 2️⃣ Kärnfull Next – a Studsvik company has applied for site approval in Valdemarsvik. The plan is 4-6 SMRs with a total capacity of around 1.2-1.6 GW. 3️⃣ Blykalla has applied for site approval in Norrsundet, Gävle. Their project is based on 6 SEALER-55 reactors with a total capacity of 330 MW. 4️⃣ Studsvik has applied for site approval in Studsvik, Nyköping. The application covers 2-4 light-water reactors with a total capacity of around 0.6-1.4 GW. For a country that only a few years ago was still debating whether new nuclear would even happen, this is a pretty big shift. Sweden is increasingly looking like Europe’s front-runner for new clean firm power.