Wedoany.com Report-Aug. 31, A proposal for an assessment programme to develop a small modular reactor (SMR) power plant in Lund Municipality has been submitted to Norway’s Ministry of Energy. The proposal, prepared by Dalane Kjernekraft AS – a company jointly owned by Dalane Energi, Norsk Kjernekraft and Lund Municipality – marks the first official step toward evaluating the feasibility of building an SMR-based facility in the region.

The planned study will focus on a site at Kjerrsdalen, Eikeland farm, while other potential sites in Lund will also be considered. A final location decision will follow a full impact assessment. The notification outlines key issues to be examined, including environmental protection, biodiversity, safety, land use, waste and decommissioning management, and social impacts. Once the Ministry sets the assessment framework, Dalane Kjernekraft will carry out the evaluation in coordination with national and regional authorities, as well as the local community. If findings indicate the project is feasible within acceptable parameters, the company will prepare a licence application.

The initiative builds on a cooperation agreement signed in July 2023 between Norsk Kjernekraft and Lund Municipality to consider SMR construction in the area. Preliminary studies since then have identified multiple viable locations. Dalane Kjernekraft CEO Steffen Oliver Sæle stated: "Submitting the notification is an important crossroads. Lund Municipality has been very forward-looking and shows the way for other municipalities that want to combine climate goals, value creation and consideration for nature. We will carry out a thorough, open and fact-based process in close dialogue with the local population. Nuclear power will not replace hydropower in Norway, but will provide stable, emission-free electricity that complements the renewable energy mix."

Parallel to this, Norsk Kjernekraft has set up Øygarden Kjernekraft AS, a wholly owned subsidiary to explore SMR development in Øygarden Municipality, near Bergen. The project will investigate the construction and operation of up to five SMRs, each with a capacity of 300 MWe, on a site of about 250 acres at Buneset, owned by former mayor Rolv Svein Rougnø. Norsk Kjernekraft CEO Jonny Hesthammer commented: "The establishment of Øygarden Kjernekraft AS marks a new and concrete phase in our commitment to SMR technology in Norway. Øygarden is an area with large energy needs and great development potential, not least through industrial projects at Kollsnes."

In addition, Narvik Municipality, together with business development company Futurum and Norsk Kjernekraft, has created Narvik Kjernekraft AS to investigate and potentially develop SMR plants in Narvik. The new company will soon propose an assessment programme. Hesthammer said: "Narvik Kjernekraft AS marks the start of a new phase where nuclear power can contribute to local value creation and security of supply." Futurum CEO Lars Sigurd Eide added: "Narvik has a large industrial activity and a need for stable, emission-free energy – Narvik Kjernekraft AS can lay the foundation for a future-oriented development."