ENERGY SAFETY GROUP participated in the NPHyCo final conference

Energy Safety Group LLC (group of ENERGY SAFETY GROUP companies) took part in the final wrap-up conference held in February 2025 in Brussels. The event was dedicated to the completion of the NPHyCo project.

The purpose of the conference was to summarize and present the results of work accomplished in the course of the project. The conference brought together partners of the NPHyCo consortium; organizations involved in other EU-funded projects; stakeholders, representatives of the nuclear industry, hydrogen sector and industry users, as well as policy makers, including representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The conference started with a welcome speech by Canet Serin, Project Manager, Covalion/Framatome GMBH. The panel “Technical Requirements” focused on the flexible operation of nuclear power plants along with the hydrogen cogeneration, aspects of implementation, including the decision matrix, requirements to data and presentation of the demostrative scenario. The presentations were made by Martin Kykal (Energy Safety Group), Stéphanie Crevon (CEA), Martin Glueckler (Framatome/Covalion), Aymen Grira (Westinghouse). Jan Meulenbrugge (NRG) with his report presented the panel “Licensing and Safety Aspects”. The “Business Panel” concluded the conference with presentations by Cecilia Herrero Moriana (Tecnatom/Westinghouse) and Fabio Nouchy (Tractebel), discussing the business plan, reviewing financial aspects of the project and secondary regulation aspects. In addition, Jessica Johnson (NuclearEurope) presented the results of the public opinion poll conducted in Europe and locally among Ukrainian society (with the assistance of ENERGY SAFETY GROUP, Ukrainian Nuclear Society and Energy Safety Institute). Rosalinde Van der Vlies, Director of the Clean Planet Directorate, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission, delivered the closing remarks.

The next day, the heads of individual working groups met at a closed meeting of the Executive Committee. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and agree on the details of the successful completion of the project. Leading project managers shared their experience and knowledge, and discussed the possibility and feasibility of continuing the project. All participants agreed that the next step to bring us closer to the construction of a hydrogen production plant would be to develop a basic design, taking into account the knowledge gained during the studies.

It is worth reminding that Energy Safety Group LLC is a participant in the EU NPHyCo hydrogen research project, devoted to the production of hydrogen using nuclear energy. The project started in the fall of 2022 and was funded under the Euratom Research and Training Program (2021-2025) dedicated to nuclear research and innovation.

The main objective of the project is to study the feasibility of hydrogen production near operating nuclear power plants, the potential location of hydrogen plants, and the added value of such projects. NPHyCo is also working on the implementation of the first pilot project for the production of low-carbon hydrogen in Europe, and public opinion is one of the key aspects in making relevant decisions.