Swedish nuclear technical services provider Studsvik has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Finnish utility Fortum to explore the conditions for new nuclear at the Studsvik industrial site near Nyköping in Sweden.

The Nyköping site (Image: Studsvik)

The MoU is part of Fortum's nuclear feasibility study launched in October 2022. During the two-year programme, Fortum will explore commercial, technological, and societal, including political, legal, and regulatory conditions both for small modular reactors (SMRs) and conventional large reactors in Finland and Sweden. The study also investigates new partnerships and business models.

The agreement with Studsvik initiates a process with the aim of assessing the potential to construct new nuclear at the Nyköping site. In the first phase, the goal is to identify potential business models and technical solutions for further development.

Studsvik has previously said its Nyköping site is in a strategic location and houses the company's broad expertise in nuclear technology, including fuel and materials technology, reactor analysis software and fuel optimisation, decommissioning and radiation protection services as well as technical solutions for handling, conditioning and volume reduction of radioactive waste.

"In the long-term, there is a possibility for new nuclear power on the Studsvik site, either in the form of commercial reactors, research reactors or a combination of both," Studsvik said. "In that case, Studsvik's role will be to make land available and contribute with its expertise in various areas - not to build or operate nuclear power plants on its own."

"Studsvik is positive to new nuclear as a part of the green transition, since it constitutes fossil-free, efficient, and plannable electricity production," said Studsvik President and CEO Camilla Hoflund. "We welcome Fortum as a partner to investigate the possibility of establishing new nuclear on the Studsvik site, which is a classic nuclear area with an infrastructure already adapted to nuclear operations."

Fortum said the agreement "supports its strategic priorities to deliver reliable and clean energy and to drive decarbonisation in industries by providing clean energy and CO2-free solutions to its customers".

"A lot of new electricity generation will be needed across the Nordics to meet future electricity demand in our societies and industries," said Laurent Leveugle, Vice President, New Nuclear at Fortum. "I am very satisfied as this agreement shows our ambition to support Sweden's green transition in the long-term."

The MoU between Studsvik and Fortum will run in parallel with earlier announced agreements with Kärnfull Next and Blykalla (formerly known as LeadCold).

In August, Studsvik signed an MoU with Swedish SMR project development company Kärnfull Next, which is investigating the possibility of constructing and operating SMRs at Nyköping. In March 2022, Kärnfull Next signed an MoU with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy on the deployment of the BWRX-300 in Sweden.

Under an agreement signed in March, Swedish lead-cooled SMR technology developer Blykalla is to conduct a feasibility study on the construction and operation of a demonstration SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor) with associated infrastructure for fuel fabrication in Nyköping.

In addition to the MoU with Studsvik, Fortum has signed cooperation agreements with Westinghouse, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Rolls-Royce SMR, EDF, Kärnfull Next as well as Finland's Outokumpu and Helen Energy.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News