Eastern Europe should shift to indigenous sources of power – including additional nuclear capacity – if it wants to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and increase energy security, the US Trade and Development Agency said.

Nuclear, including new technologies such as small modular reactors, has the potential to replace the region’s use of coal as a baseload power source, the USTDA said. SMRs are already being considered in a number of countries in the region, including Romania and Poland.

In Romania, the USTDA, an independent agency of the US government, has funded technical assistance for the country’s state nuclear energy company, Nuclearelectrica, to support the integration of SMR technology into Romania’s national energy strategy. USTDA’s help is developing a shortlist of SMR sites, assessing SMR technology options, and developing site-specific licensing roadmaps.