The European Commission has approved the Dutch government’s a €2bn ($2.1bn) measure to provide public support for the construction of a new nuclear research reactor to replace the ageing High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten in the Netherlands.

The support will take the form of loans and equity for a total amount of approximately €2bn to a newly established company that will build and operate the reactor and associated nuclear health centre, the commission said.

The commission said: “The measure is necessary and appropriate, as the Pallas project would not materialise without the public support.”

The new company will result from the merger of the Pallas Foundation set up by the Netherlands in 2013 to manage the preparatory phase of the project, and the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) that operates the existing HFR.