newcleo received a positive opinion on 13 July 2026 from France’s nuclear safety and radiation protection authority (ASNR) regarding the safety programme for its planned mixed oxide (MOX) fuel manufacturing facility. ASNR concluded that the company’s approach to safety demonstrations is satisfactory and, overall, fit to meet the objectives set out under France’s nuclear regulatory framework.
The dossier had been submitted in December 2024. Following months of technical review, the regulator’s verdict came without any blocking objections: newcleo will be able to incorporate ASNR’s recommendations into the detailed design and future licensing applications. The chosen site is Nogent-sur-Seine, in the Aube department of north-eastern France. The project is valued at approximately €1.8 billion and is expected to create around 1,700 direct jobs. In parallel, newcleo is conducting the mandatory three-month public debate on its French projects — the LFR reactor and the MOX facility — becoming the first private advanced reactor developer to complete this stage in France.
On the government funding front, the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI) has informed the company that the capital raised and the level of development achieved now exceed the scope of the France 2030 programme. This means that any additional public contribution would be marginal relative to the critical mass newcleo has already built through private funding. The French state will continue working with the company to identify other forms of cooperation, including support during the licensing process with ASNR, state services linked to projects on French territory, and export-oriented initiatives. In short, the relationship with public institutions is not ending — it is simply changing shape.
newcleo develops lead-cooled advanced modular reactors (AMR), a Generation IV technology that can use plutonium from spent fuel reprocessing as its fuel source. MOX — a mixture of uranium and plutonium oxides — underpins the company’s entire value chain. Founded in September 2021 by Stefano Buono, Luciano Cinotti and Elisabeth Rizzotti, the company has raised over €570 million in private capital to date and employs more than 1,100 people. A 10 MW non-nuclear demonstration reactor, known as PRECURSOR, is nearing completion at the ENEA Brasimone research centre in Italy. The stated goal is to have the first 30 MWe reactor operational in France by 2031.
ASNR’s assessment of the LFR reactor’s safety functions is expected by the end of 2026 and will represent the next formal milestone in the licensing process. In the United States, newcleo initiated preliminary engagement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March 2026 for the same technologies. In Slovakia, a joint venture with JAVYS is targeting the construction of up to four LFR-AS-200 reactors at Bohunice. The picture that emerges is of a company that has moved beyond the project stage and is becoming a fully-fledged industrial player — with all the regulatory obligations, capital commitments and delivery expectations that entails.
