Europe needs a robust nuclear supply chain that will consolidate assets across all European industrial players as the bloc seeks to roll out a new generation of conventional and new nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs), Massimo Garribba, deputy director‐general for the coordination of Euratom policies said.

Garribba said at the first suppliers’ day in Paris organised by France’s state power company and nuclear operator EDF that the bloc needs to harness all zero and low-carbon solutions to decarbonise the energy system by 2040, including nuclear.

He said the discussion around the EU nuclear supply chain is “timely and opportune” and called for diversification across the value chain and a skilled workforce. He said the Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors, set up by the European Commission, would facilitate the deployment of the first SMR projects in the EU by the early 2030s and strengthen the related EU‐based supply chain.