CVR WP1 Work Summary Task 1.3a – Process Industry and application of SMR
Publish date: 10/08/2026
SANE Task 1.3a, Jiří Duspiva from CVŘ assessed the potential of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to supply low-carbon heat and electricity to industrial sectors such as steel and chemical production.
Application of SMR to production of energy for industry starts with some examples of the
overview of energy needs in selected industrial segments in Czech Republic and in the EU.
Steel production needs a decarbonization in heating, transition from the blast furnace to the electric arc one technology, as well as in the substitution of carbon by hydrogen for the reduction purpose. The only steel production in Czech Republic would need about 2 large reactors for complete decarbonization via. conversion from the blast to electric arc furnace and reduction from carbon to hydrogen, if production has to be kept at level of the year 2022. For the whole EU it would require about 50 new large units, if the SMRs should be applied, that is about 150 reactors only for steel production.
The second sector is chemical industry; the consumption of electricity in EU was 165 TWh in 2021. The important question is what types of nuclear reactors can be applied, the NEA Dashboard: The Thirds Edition counts more than 70 different designs of light-water SMRs and advanced modular reactors (AMRs, Gen IV). The report very well demonstrates applicability for various industrial applications mainly based on the temperature of the cooling media exiting the reactor core. Two case studies are included, the first informs about the work performed in OakRidge NL – study of application of NuScale reactors to chemical factory of Eastman Chemical Pant in Kingsport TN. The main outcome is a number of modules of the NuScale needed for the covering of energy needs of the factory.
The own case study was performed for the Litvinov Chemical Park of the ORLEN Unipetrol in Czech Republic. Based on the steam and electricity consumption data in years 2022-2024 the study analyzed if one unit of GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor would be sufficient to cover the factory needs. It is obvious that for most days it could be sufficient, but there are some days with insufficient power. The conclusion is that one unit is not sufficient, because it is necessary to consider
other features related to the operation of nuclear reactor – outages for maintenance or fueling. An additional issue of the application of the nuclear energy source is siting, because there are very strong conditions to be fulfilled in the legislation concerning the site characteristics and impact of human activities in surrounding area.
For more information, do not hesitate to reach out to:
Jiří Duspiva