Company expects to demonstrate technology in early 2030s
European nuclear startup Newcleo has submitted an application for the UK nuclear regulator’s generic design assessment (GDA) process for its 200-MW lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) design, the company said in a statement.
The GDA process, overseen by the UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency, is designed to evaluate the safety and environmental acceptability of new nuclear designs. It is part of pre-licensing activities and is not site-specific.
Pending acceptance by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the assessment is expected to begin in the spring of 2025 and take approximately two years to complete.
In April 2024, the UK-based Nuclear Industry Association applied for a justification decision for Newcleo’s LFR-AS-200 reactor design, making it the first new reactor design submitted for consideration in the country for almost a decade and the first ever for an advanced reactor.
Justification is a regulatory process which requires a government decision before any new class or type of practice involving ionising radiation can be introduced in the UK.
Newlceo said the GDA “milestone” builds on the regulatory justification application and follows 18 months of technical discussions with French and international regulators about safety options for the LFR and its MOX (mixed-oxide) fuel manufacturing plant.
The LFR design was also included in a shortlist for support from the European industrial alliance on small modular reactors (SMRs) in October.
“This reflects our commitment to deploying in the UK, France, and beyond,” said Stéphane Calpena, Newcleo’s global licensing and nuclear safety director.
Newcleo wats to deploy a smaller 30-MW version of its LFR design as a demonstrator plant in France in the early 2030s.
The company recently moved headquarters from London to Paris. It has more than 950 employees based in 19 locations across France, Italy, the UK, Switzerland, and Slovakia, including three manufacturing facilities.
Newcleo said it has raised a total of over €537m ($565m) from institutional and individual investors and has seen an increasing number of European players joining its growing funding base - or over 700 shareholders to date.
Newcleo was founded in 2021 by Italian physicist and alumnus of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, Stefano Buono.
