EDF (Electricité de France) announced the creation of its subsidiary NUWARD to boost the development of its small modular reactor (SMR) now entering the basic design phase.

NUWARD is a 340MWe SMR plant with two independent reactors (170MWe each) housed in a single nuclear building, optimizing the use of mutualised equipment.

NUWARD is set to become the European leader in Small Modular Reactor technology, delivering low carbon, reliable and affordable energy to the world’s market.

NUWARD SMR conceptual design phase consolidated the design architecture of the NUWARD SMR. NUWARD will now proceed with the basic design activities to progress design maturity, leveraging the expertise and experience of EDF Group’s nuclear engineering teams, while also benefitting from the support of an international network of industrial partners.

Together with EDF, NUWARD will further pursue development of cooperation arrangements and commitments with international prospects who are considering deploying the NUWARD SMR as part of their energy transition or who aspire to join the NUWARD SMR supply chain.

The NUWARD SMR is targeted to replace old high CO2-emitting coal, fuel, oil and gas power plants around the world as well as offering the capability of supporting other usages such as hydrogen production, urban and district heating or desalination.

The NUWARD subsidiary will continue to work with NUWARD’s historic partners (CEA, TechnicAtome, Naval Group) and new partners onboarded last year: Framatome and Tractebel.