COP27 is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference being held from 6 November until 18 November 2022. On November 12, the U.S. announced two global Small Modular Reactor (SMR) initiatives: (1) a Ukraine clean fuels from SMRs pilot project and (2) a new initiative to accelerate the European transition of coal-fired plants to SMRs. These initiatives showcase the use of SMR technologies for powering global decarbonization efforts and providing options to achieve net-zero economies in hard-to-abate energy sectors.

While additional information on these two initiatives is still underway (the White House mentioned both initiatives in its Overview of COP27), the U.S. actions demonstrate commitments to the use of innovative clean energy technologies, such as SMRs, while at the same time supporting economic opportunity and energy independence in areas hard hit by the transition away from Russian energy (which we blogged about previously here).

We provide a high-level overview of both announced projects below.

1. Ukraine Clean Fuels from SMRs Pilot Project

The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, and Ukraine Minister of Energy German Galushchenko introduced a “Ukraine Clean Fuels from SMRs Pilot” project to demonstrate a first-of-a-kind pilot of commercial-scale production of clean hydrogen and ammonia using SMRs and cutting-edge electrolysis technologies in Ukraine.

• Leveraging the existing capacity-building cooperation launched under the U.S. Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of SMR Technology (FIRST) program, which was announced by the White House after the White House Climate Summit in April 2021 (blogged about here), the SMR pilot project intends to support Ukraine’s energy security goals, enable decarbonization of hard-to-abate energy sectors through clean hydrogen generation, and improve long-term food security through clean ammonia-produced fertilizers. Further, the pilot project seeks to demonstrate Ukraine’s innovative clean energy leadership through the use of advanced technologies.

• The pilot project, which will run for 2-3 years, also relies on the work of a public-private consortium on scientific and practical developments for SMRs.

• Participating partners from the U.S. include Argonne National Laboratory, Clark Seed, FuelCell Energy, NuScale and Starfire Energy. On the Ukraine side, participants include nuclear operator Energoatom, the National Security and Defense Council, and the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety.

2. Project Phoenix – Accelerating the European Coal-to-Nuclear Transition

Special Envoy Kerry introduced another a new initiative, called Project Phoenix, to accelerate the European transition of coal-fired plants to SMRs, a transition that commits to retain local jobs through workforce re-training and to have positive impacts on the local economy.

According to the White House Fact Sheet Project Phoenix will provide direct U.S. support for the coal-to-SMR feasibility studies and related activities that support energy security goals for countries in Central and Eastern Europe.