Small nuclear reactors could see the light of day in France, but not necessarily to inject electricity into the power grid, a task that is already accomplished by the 50 or so large reactors of the state-owned EDF group, which also intends to build more.
Like other start-ups, Jimmy Energy is more interested in a new market. If this small Paris-based company wants to design a small-scale model, it’s specifically to supply low-carbon heat as part of a local network.
Its potential customers are factories that, until now, have used gas for their industrial processes, one of the fossil fuels responsible for climate change. The company claims to offer a solution that will meet the « challenges of decarbonization, » pointing out that the industrial sector generates almost a fifth of France’s total yearly greenhouse gas emissions.
A priority for decarbonization
This company of some 70 employees owes its name to a cartoon character, Jimmy Neutron. On a more serious note, on April 29, almost three and a half years after its creation, it became the first company in France to announce that it had submitted an application for authorization to create a commercial Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project. This application was received on May 3 by the French environmental transition ministry.
After prospecting, the project promoter put forward the hypothesis of an initial SMR in Bazancourt, an eastern French town of around 2,000 inhabitants. The aim is to supply heat to a Cristal Union plant. This agro-industrial group’s distillery is already Seveso classified as a « high threshold » plant, for major accident risks. It produces alcohol for cosmetics and spirits as well as for pharmaceutical and chemical companies. According to the government, this industrial site is a priority for decarbonization: It is one of the country’s top 50 carbon dioxide emitters.
Cristal Union has said it was exploring all possible avenues, including nuclear power. « No agreement has yet been signed, » said the group. Today, it uses gas for the majority of its steam needs. It also uses biomass, a renewable energy source.
A still very hypothetical date
High-Temperature Reactor (HTR) technology can go up to 450°C. « This technology already exists, » said Jimmy co-founder Antoine Guyot, citing experiments in China and Japan. The 30-year-old elite Polytechnique engineering university graduate was not predestined for nuclear power. Nor was his partner, Mathilde Grivet, a graduate of the prestigious HEC business school. Until recently, they had both worked as advisers for Eleven Strategy, a consultancy specializing in data processing. Jacky Bonnemains, a spokesman for the anti-nuclear association Robin des Bois, sees them as « windfall hunters. »
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