Today, the U.S. Department of State and the Slovak Ministry of Economy will co-host the inaugural Project Phoenix Workshop and Launch Event in Bratislava. The launch event includes participants from more than 15 countries in the Europe and Eurasia region and initiates cooperation among the United States and the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia on feasibility studies to explore conversion of coal plants to safe and secure new nuclear energy. Project Phoenix is a demonstration of the U.S. commitment to support partner countries in meeting their energy security and climate goals while maintaining the global nonproliferation regime.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced Project Phoenix at the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt (COP27) and highlighted the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia as the first three competitively selected awardees at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Bucharest. Project Phoenix’s feasibility studies and technical assistance seek to accelerate the global clean energy transition away from fossil fuels, promote partnerships for the deployment of advanced clean energy solutions, and implement the highest standards of safety and security, while also prioritizing retraining and retaining local jobs.
In many cases, small modular reactors are ideally suited for coal plant conversions as they provide 24/7 baseload energy, can be scaled as needed to meet energy needs, and require relatively little land area, which allows them to be built on existing sites. SMRs can be used for clean power generation, district heating, hydrogen production, industrial applications, and water desalination in water stressed regions. Project Phoenix is implemented under the U.S. Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology—FIRST—capacity building program that supports the establishment of advanced nuclear power programs under the highest standards of nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation.
