Eagles and Newcleo team up for LFR technology demonstrator

Four European nuclear technology organisations launched the Eagles Consortium in June last year to develop and commercialise the EAGLES-300 small modular reactor (SMR) with the aim of delivering a first demonstration by 2035. The agreement was signed by Belgium's SCK-CEN nuclear research centre, Italy's national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development ENEA, Italian company Ansaldo Nucleare, and Romanian state-owned nuclear R&D coordination organisation RATEN.

EAGLES-300 is a lead-cooled Generation IV small modular reactor. The Eagles Consortium plans to leverage two test facilities on its route to commercialisation. The LEANDREA technology demonstrator, in Belgium will focus on fuel and materials testing; while the ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) project, at Pitești, Romania, will be upgraded to serve as a stepping stone toward commercial deployment. With global commercialisation for EAGLES-300 targeted in 2039, the consortium said it is adopting a stepwise approach to development, ensuring technical feasibility and economic viability at each stage.

Paris-headquartered Newcleo's delivery roadmap sees the first non-nuclear precursor prototype of its lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) being ready by 2026 in Italy and the first LFR-AS-200 reactor operational in France as early as 2032, while the final investment decision for the first commercial power plant is expected around 2029.

Under the new agreement, the Eagles consortium and Newcleo will generate synergies to streamline the development of the LFR technology in Europe by contributing to the design and construction of LEANDREA, which is expected to be completed in 2034. This reactor is being developed as both a technology demonstrator and a test facility for materials and fuels. Once operational, Eagles and Newcleo will benefit from significant irradiation capacity to test new materials and fuels for fast reactors. This supports both the Eagles and Newcleo roadmaps towards commercialisation.

For the development and deployment of LEANDREA, Eagles and Newcleo will share the engineering support and contributions, as well as promotion of LEANDREA as equivalent partners. Through this collaboration, the Eagles Consortium and Newcleo agree to jointly identify and coordinate R&D activities already foreseen in their respective roadmaps that can be shared, with the aim of minimising overlaps in technological development in LEANDREA.

"By signing this agreement, we are redefining the lead-cooled fast reactor as Europe's reference advanced reactor technology," said Stefano Buono, CEO and founder of Newcleo. "Alongside Eagles we are pooling together decades of world-class research on LFRs for the benefit of both organisations. This collaboration will consolidate the competitiveness of Europe's nuclear industry, allowing it to progress at pace and compete in the global race towards a new era of nuclear energy deployment."

"Bringing advanced nuclear technologies to maturity and market readiness in Europe requires synergies across national boundaries to make the best use of all the expertise available: this is at the focus and the nature of Eagles Consortium," added Roberto Adinolfi, chairman of the Eagles Steering Committee and of Ansaldo Nucleare. "Through the cooperation on LEANDREA with Newcleo we can reduce duplication, optimise resources, and shorten timelines to our goal."

"As a technology demonstrator and testing facility for materials and fuels, LEANDREA represents a crucial step in further validating lead-cooled fast reactor technology," said SCK-CEN General Manager Peter Baeten. "We are therefore very pleased that Newcleo is joining the Eagles Consortium in the design and construction of this infrastructure. By combining our complementary expertise, we are working together on a concrete project that can support Europe's energy security and innovation capacity."

Mariano Tarantino, head of the nuclear energy systems division of ENEA, said: "The collaboration with Eagles and Newcleo represents an important step forward consolidating European leadership on this technology, aiming at accelerating the development and deployment of LFRs as a low-carbon, reliable and sustainable energy supply for Europe."

The EAGLES-300 and Newcleo's LFR were among nine SMR designs selected in October 2024 by the European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors - a European Commission initiative to facilitate and accelerate the development, demonstration, and deployment of the first SMR projects in Europe in the early 2030s.