Sargent & Lundy joined officials from the U.S. Department of State and 13 countries from across Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia Sept. 29-30 in Warsaw, Poland to formally launch an initiative designed to facilitate efficient fleet deployment of small modular reactor technologies in the region. The State Department established the SMR Pan-Regional Interest Nuclear Group, or SPRING, initiative to advance international cooperation and global energy security using U.S. nuclear expertise and technology.
Sargent & Lundy nuclear power professionals led discussions, with support from AdSTM, an engineering and management consulting company based in McLean, Virginia, with officials from each of the countries during a two-day workshop. The talks covered technical issues and cooperative planning opportunities for the use of SMRs and other advanced nuclear energy technologies to meet national and regional energy needs. The firm, along with AdSTM, will implement SPRING on behalf of the State Department. SPRING is part of the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of SMR Technology, or FIRST, program initiated in 2019.
The SPRING program is designed to uphold the highest nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation standards, using technology-specific regulatory and project management expertise with U.S. SMR vendors. Sargent & Lundy will leverage more than 70 years of nuclear project management experience to foster collaboration at the national level, encouraging the development of regulatory and process efficiencies among utilities, vendors, and government agencies.
“The SPRING initiative brings us all together as one team to begin to transform SMR projects from ideas to reality,” said Sargent & Lundy Senior Vice President James Jensen. “This is an opportunity to realize the true benefits of SMR technology by developing common designs, standards, and protocols. Reduced costs and consistent build times will help us meet our partners’ energy needs throughout this region.”
The workshop sessions included participants from Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Over the course of the two days, officials exchanged candid perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for harmonized regulatory and licensing frameworks, supply chains, procurement and financing, construction codes and standards, and other aspects of SMR project development. The workshop ended with the group reaching consensus on actionable goals and tasks identified in these focus areas to begin implementing.
Sargent & Lundy pioneered the commercial nuclear industry and is at the forefront of SMR and advanced reactor technology. The firm provides engineering and design support to develop SMRs in the U.S. and internationally.
As part of their work in Eastern Europe, Sargent & Lundy is undertaking the second front-end engineering and design phase for an SMR project in Doicești, Romania, capable of producing 462 megawatts of energy. The firm also supports FIRST’s sub-program Project Phoenix, conducting feasibility studies for deploying SMRs at retiring power plants in Ukraine, Slovakia, and Slovenia that will leverage existing infrastructure to reduce construction timelines and bring down costs.