Assessment of proposed Norwegian SMR plant to begin

Nuclear project developer Norsk Kjernekraft submitted a proposal to Norway's Ministry of Energy in November 2023 for an assessment of the construction of the small modular reactor (SMR) plant. According to the preliminary plan, the plant will be located in a common industrial area - the Taftøy industrial park - in the border area between Aure and Heim in Trøndelag county. The plant is planned to consist of several SMRs, which together will produce around 12.5 TWh of electricity annually, if the plant is realised in its entirety.

In April last year, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Health and Care Services, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, and the Ministry of Climate and Environment requested the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, and the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment programme for the proposed plant. A notification with a proposal for an assessment programme for the project was published for consultation in Norway by the Ministry of Energy in May 2024 with a deadline for submissions that same autumn.

At the request of the Ministry of Energy, the Norwegian Environment Agency submitted the proposed impact assessment programme for consultation by neighbouring countries, giving them the opportunity to assess the impacts this could have on them, so that this can be investigated further in a possible further process of planning the licence application and operation. The deadline for other countries to provide input to the assessment programme was 6 January 2026. The consultation responses have now been reviewed and taken into account.

The Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Health and Care Services, and the Ministry of Climate and Environment have now established an impact assessment programme for the plans for the prosed plant.

"The impact assessment shall be prepared in accordance with the established assessment programme, and will constitute a central part of the decision-making basis for any applications for concessions under the Atomic Energy Act and the Energy Act, applications for permits under the Pollution Act and other relevant permits and approvals," the Ministry of Energy said.

"By establishing this assessment programme, we are setting minimum requirements for the scope and content of impact assessments for a possible nuclear power plant in Taftøy Business Park," said Minister of Energy Terje Aasland. The fact that we have now established this assessment programme does not mean that a position will be taken on nuclear power production as a power source in the Norwegian power system. Whether nuclear power will be relevant in Norway must be considered more closely in light of the Nuclear Power Committee's report. For the government, it is important to ensure a predictable and safe process."

"It is very pleasing that we have now received a formally binding impact assessment programme from the Ministry of Energy for nuclear power in Aure and Heim municipalities," said Norsk Kjernekraft CEO Jonny Hesthammer. "This is a big step forward for nuclear power in Norway. This confirms that Norway has the regulatory framework for nuclear power."

"Now we will first sit down and make a plan for the implementation of the impact assessment, where an important part is how the local population and other stakeholders will be able to contribute to the benefits and disadvantages of the nuclear power plant being highlighted. We have already started work on parts of the impact assessment, and we look forward to having a good dialogue with neighbours, municipalities and state authorities," he said.

The proposed nuclear power plant in Aure and Heim is the first of ten projects that Norsk Kjernekraft is implementing in Norwegian municipalities.