SMR projects

Nearly eighty small modular reactor (SMR) projects are currently being developed around the world, including around ten in France.

Overview of current projects

The SMR projects monitored by the ASNR are as follows:

Light water reactor

 

logo calogena

CAL 30

Industrial prototype
30 MWth

 

 

 

 

 Sodium-cooled reactors

 

logo otrera

OTRERA 300

Industrial prototype
300 MWth

 

 

 

 

logo hexana

HEXANA

Industrial prototype
400 MWth

 

 

 

High-temperature reactors

 

logo jimmy

FERMI

Industrial prototype
20 MWth

 

 

 

 

logo blue capsule

BLUE CAPSULE

Industrial prototype
150 MWth

 

 

 

Lead-cooled reactor

 

logo newcleo

LFR-AS-30

Experimental reactor
90 MWth

 

 

 

Molten salt reactors

 

logo naarea

XAMR

Experimental reactor
20 MWth

 

 

 

 

logo stellaria

ALVIN

Experimental reactor
A few hundred kWth

 

 

 

 

logo thorizon

THORIZON one

Industrial prototype
250 MWth

 

 

 

Status of technical exchanges on reactor projects

The table below sets out the framework for technical exchanges between ASNR and SMR project sponsors as of 1st february 2025 :

 
PREPARATORY PHASE

 
Stage 1: Screening phase
 
Stage 2: Project preparatory review

HEXANA
 
 
STELLARIA
 
 
BLUE CAPSULE
 
 
 
 

NEWCLEO
Preparatory review completed
 

NAAREA
Preparatory review completed
 

THORIZON
Preparatory review in progress 
 

OTRERA
Awaiting 1st preparatory review meeting

 
REGULATORY PHASE

 
Stage 3: Pre-licensing
 
Stage 4: Assessment of the application

CALOGENA (Updated: February 20, 2025)
 
On October 31, 2024, CALOGENA submitted a request for an opinion to ASN regarding some of the safety options chosen for its small modular reactor project, CAL30.
 

On December 2, 2024, ASN asked CALOGENA to complete its file. Indeed, after an initial analysis, the file submitted in support of this request was deemed insufficient for the ASNR to provide a detailed opinion on the options presented.
 

On February 13, 2025, CALOGENA submitted a set of nine thematic notes to ASNR as a supplement to its initial file. The analysis of these additional elements is ongoing.
 

JIMMY (Updated: February 20, 2025)
 
On May 3, 2024, Jimmy Energy submitted a license application to the Minister responsible for nuclear safety for the construction of a reactor intended to supply heat to the Cristal Union’s industrial facility located in Bazancourt (51).
 

On December 30, 2024, after conducting an initial analysis of the entire application file submitted by Jimmy Energy, ASN sent to the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Mission (MSNR, a service of the Minister responsible for nuclear safety) a list of additional technical information required for the assessment of the application file.
 

On February 13, 2025, the MSNR sent Jimmy Energy a request to update its application file.

En savoir plus :

Dialogue and assessment procedures

In order to optimise preparations for any creation authorisation applications for these various innovative reactor projects, and in order to mobilise resources proportionate to the level of development maturity of each project, a four-phase framework of incremental technical exchanges was set up.

SMR news

Find out more about small modular reactors (SMR)

Published on 21/05/2024 at 10:57

ASN Report on the State of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection in France in 2023

On May 16, ASN presented its Report on the State of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection in France in 2023 to the parliamentarians of the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technical Choices (OPECST). On this occasion, ASN presented the subjects on which it was being particularly vigilant with regard to the new nuclear ambitions.

Published on 12/03/2024 at 09:40

Bilateral meeting with the Indian safety regulator in Mumbai

An ASN delegation, led by its Chairman Bernard Doroszczuk, travelled to Mumbai on 5 March 2024 to meet its Indian counterpart, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and its Chairman Shri Dinesh Kumar Shukla. This meeting was organised as part of the cooperation agreement that has linked the two safety regulators for nearly 25 years now.
See all news about SMR