European Industrial Alliance on SMRs 1st General Assembly meeting
Brussels, 29-30 May 2024
Summary of key points from presentations and discussions
On May 29 and 30 in Brussels, the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs convened its first General Assembly meeting gathering about 240 in person and 140 online participants. The two-day event marked a key milestone in European efforts to develop and deploy the first SMR projects in Europe by the early 2030s. The primary purpose of the first General Assembly meeting was to agree on and validate the way forward for the Alliance regarding its strategic orientation, structure, governance, operational modalities, and next steps.
The meeting was attended by the Alliance’s members, both in person and remotely, as well as speakers from the industry and EU governments, and representatives from the Commission. Furthermore, Commissioners Simson, Breton, and Ivanova expressed during this event their full support for this initiative as a promising and efficient instrument to promote the development of SMRs and AMRs in Europe. These technologies, they said, will be key for advancing energy transition and the decarbonisation of industry as well as for strengthening industrial competitiveness and innovation in the coming years.
→ Membership
At the beginning of the first day, the results from the assessment of membership applications received by April 12 were presented. In this initial batch of applications, a total of 277 members were accepted into the Alliance. The presentations provided detailed information on country coverage, types of organisations, and sectors represented in the Alliance so far. Furthermore, 5 technologies (LWR-SMRs and AMRs) encompassing 24 different designs were represented among the accepted applications.
→ Project-based Working Groups
On the first day of the event, an overview was provided of the different SMR and AMR candidate projects that had expressed interest in receiving support from the Alliance through their Application Forms. This was followed by a detailed presentation on the criteria for selecting SMR projects, with an in-depth explanation of the selection process. It was emphasised that small or not yet mature projects promoted by designers, vendors, or end-users could join, form partnerships, and apply for support under the Alliance.
In the days following the General Assembly meeting, all project initiators who have applied will receive guidance on the information, both qualitative and quantitative, they should provide to demonstrate how their projects meet the criteria outlined in the Terms of Reference of the Alliance (Annex 1). This information, which is to be submitted to the Governing Board by June 28, 2024, should complement the initial information provided in the Application Forms.
Regarding evaluation, the members were informed that all proposals – whether for individual SMR projects or partnerships – will be evaluated and validated by the Governing Board. The results will be communicated to all project initiators by September 2024. Any project that receives a positive assessment will form a Project-Based Working Group (PWG). These PWGs will be eligible to receive support from the Alliance, particularly from the different Technical Working Groups, according to their specific needs. Projects that are not selected for support will be provided with a summary of the main areas for improvement, which can be addressed should the initiators decide to reapply later. The Governing Board will set the date for the next application round in due course.
→ Technical Working Groups
In addition, on the first day, the secretariat presented its proposal to establish eight Technical Working Groups (TWGs) based on the suggestions from the SMR pre-partnership and the interests expressed by members of the Alliance in their Application Forms. On the second day, the secretariat proposed candidates for the chairs and vice-chairs, explaining the selection criteria to lead the TWGs. The main criteria used for this purpose were to reflect the geographical distribution of the members while ensuring broad coverage, and at the same time, to consider their strong experience, authority, and commitment to leading the work for two years (extendable). Detailed information about these criteria is available in the slides presented. The list of TWGs along with their chairs and vice-chairs can be found at the end of this summary.
On the second day, each proposed chair of the TWGs was invited to present their views regarding the rationale, main objectives, key actions, expected results, and which types of organisations could join each TWG. This helped the participants get an overview of each TWG, enabling them to make their choices in the following days about which TWGs they could best contribute to. After these presentations, the participants had the opportunity to clarify certain points and offer valuable suggestions to the proposed chairs. All recommendations have been recorded and will be taken into consideration within each TWG.
In the days following the General Assembly meeting, all members of the Alliance will receive an EU survey request allowing them to indicate their preferences for participation in the TWGs. It is strongly recommended that each member participate in no more than two or three groups to ensure efficient operation and management of the TWGs in the future. Members are invited to complete and return this request to the secretariat by June 10, 2024.
Some TWGs will have their kick-off meetings in June 2024, while others will meet in October. The first key deliverable for all TWGs is the development of an Action Plan that outlines the objectives, activities, deliverables, milestones, and expected results. These Action Plans should be submitted to the Governing Board for validation in early Q1 of 2025. They will serve as the foundation for developing the Strategic Action Plan of the Alliance, which is due by the end of Q1 2025.
→ Composition of the Governing Board – the role of the General Assembly
In this session, the composition of the Governing Board, as initially indicated in the Terms of Reference, was presented in detail. More precisely, the Governing Board will consist of permanent members, including the chairs of all TWGs, as well as representatives from the Commission, nucleareurope, and SNETP. ENSREG may participate as an observer. Additionally, the leaders of the Project-based Working Groups will be invited on an ad hoc basis to present progress, discuss any difficulties they may encounter, and offer suggestions on how to improve the work of the Alliance. The first meeting of the Governing Board would take place in early July. Furthermore, the secretariat reminded attendees of the key role of the General Assembly in this context. More detailed information can be found on the corresponding slides.
→ Endorsement of proposals
Finally, in the last session, the way forward for the Alliance was unanimously endorsed by the General Assembly. This included the proposals made over the past two days regarding the process for evaluating the SMR projects or partnerships, the establishment of eight TWGs with their proposed chairs and vice-chairs, and the composition of the Governing Board.
→ Next steps
- All members willing to participate in TWGs should made their choice by using the EU survey application by 10 June. To this end, a link to the EU survey will be sent to all members before 5 June.
- Kick off meetings of potentially four TWGs to be organised in June/July 2024.
- All SMR/AMR project initiators or partnerships should submit the requested description of their projects or partnership by 28 June To this end, a guidance document will be sent by the secretariat to all SMR/AMR project initiators by 7 June to assist them in providing homogeneous and structured information about their projects.
- The Call for membership is reopen; the second batch of applications will be assessed in June 2024.
- The first meeting of the Governing Board will take place early July 2024.
- The submitted SMR projects or partnership proposals will be evaluated by the Governing Board in September 2024, and the results will be communicated to all applicants shortly after.
- The remaining TWGs have their kick off meetings in October 2024
Should any member have any query regarding the conclusions and operational modalities of the Alliance, they can send an email to: grow-EU-SMRS-ALLIANCE@ec.europa.eu
All presentations from the event are available on the event’s website which can be accessed using the password for registration that all members received with their membership confirmation. The list of members from the first batch of applications is available on the Alliance’s website:
List of Technical Working Groups and their chairs and vice-chairs
TWG1: Industrial Applications
Chair: Nicola Rega, Executive Director Climate Change and Energy, CEFIC
Vice Chair: Adina GEORGESCU,Energy & Climate Change Director, Eurometaux
TWG2: Technology and R&D&I
Chair: Peter Baeten, Director General, SCK-CEN
Vice Chair: Michel Pasquet, Advanced Reactors project Manager, Framatome
TWG3: Supply Chain
Chair: Vakis Ramany, Senior Vice President – Development New Nuclear Projects & Engineering, EDF
Vice Chair: Massimiliano TACCONELLI,VP Nuclear & Big Science Director, Walter Tosto
TWG4: Skills
Chair: Marco E. Ricotti, Prof. Nuclear Power Plants at Politecnico di Milano and President of CIRTEN
Vice Chair: Oliver BARD,Directeur General, GIFEN
TWG5: Public Engagement
Chair: Meritxell Martell, Executive Director, GMF
Vice Chair: TBD
TWG6: Nuclear Safety and Safeguard
Chair: Olli Kymäläinen,- Technical Director, New Nuclear, FORTUM)
TWG7: Fuel cycle and waste management
Chair: Hidde Baars, – Director Government Affairs Netherlands & EU, URENCO
Vice Chair: Thibault Louvet, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, ORANO
TWG8: Financing
Chair: Michal Jedlička, ČEZ, European Affairs Specialist, Public Affairs
Vice Chair: TBD
