Small nuclear reactors that can power a city being evaluated for safety

International regulators are increasingly collaborating to evaluate the safety of new small modular reactor (SMR) designs in Europe, aiming to foster a shared understanding of safety principles without replacing national regulatory authority. Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) has completed an initial safety assessment of Steady Energy’s LDR-50 SMR, a 50MW zero-carbon thermal reactor designed primarily for district heating and industrial processes. Building on this, STUK is leading a joint early review with several European regulators, focusing on fundamental safety aspects such as design assumptions, defence-in-depth, hazard protection, and emergency preparedness. This review, started in late 2025 and expected to conclude by mid-2026, supports regulatory readiness and robust safety design while maintaining national licensing responsibilities. Similarly, France is conducting a multi-phase international review of the Nuward SMR, a pressurized water reactor developed by EDF. This process, coordinated by France’s nuclear safety authority, has already examined high-level safety objectives and passive safety