From new reactors to supplier qualification: programs, timelines, and perspectives for Italian manufacturing companies, explained step by step
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The world will need much more electricity in the coming decades. Electric cars, industry, data centers, and artificial intelligence consume energy in increasing quantities, and this energy must be produced while emitting less and less carbon dioxide, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels. This is the reason why several countries, in Europe and around the world, are returning to invest in nuclear power: by extending the life of plants already in operation, building new ones, or developing more recent generation technologies.
For years, the debate on European nuclear power focused primarily on the energetic and political level. Today, the discussion is entering a more concrete phase, the industrial one: national strategies are translating into licensing procedures, engineering contracts, preparatory work at construction sites, and programs to strengthen the supplier network.
Poland, Romania and France are three useful cases for understanding how this transition works, despite being at different stages. Poland is launching its first civil nuclear program, building the entire supply chain that must support it alongside the power plant. Romania is refurbishing a reactor already in operation and completing two others that have remained half-finished for decades. France aims to build a series of similar reactors, replicating processes and components to contain time and costs.
For manufacturing companies, including Italian ones, these three paths pose a concrete question. Building a nuclear power plant means activating a long and complex supply chain, which includes mechanical and electrical components, systems, automation, special materials, welding, precision machining, civil construction, engineering, maintenance, and very rigorous document management. Entering this supply chain requires preparation: suppliers are selected and qualified through a process that often begins several years before the actual awarding of contracts.
Poland: a nuclear program and a supply chain to build
Poland is developing its first major civil nuclear program around the Lubiatowo-Kopalino project, on the Baltic Sea coast, in the municipality of Choczewo. The plant will consist of three AP1000 model reactors, a technology designed by the US company Westinghouse that uses normal water, kept under pressure, to cool the core and transfer the heat that generates electricity: it is the most widespread family of reactors in the world. The three units will have a total capacity of 3,750 megawatts, the unit of measurement used to express a plant’s capacity to generate electricity. The Polish program aims, in perspective, to build two nuclear power plants, for a total capacity between 6 and 9 gigawatts.
On March 31, 2026, the public company leading the project, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, submitted the construction license application to the Polish nuclear safety authority, the permit that formally allows work to begin on the actual plant. According to the current project schedule, construction is expected to start in 2028, with the three units in operation in 2036, 2037, and 2038 respectively. Since 2025, some preparatory work on the site has already been underway, such as the preparation of areas and support infrastructure: works distinct from the construction of the reactor, which will only start after the further necessary authorizations.
The Polish case is interesting from an industrial point of view because it concerns a country that is building its first commercial reactors: therefore, alongside the plant, an entire ecosystem made of skills, rules, infrastructure, and qualified suppliers is being born. Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, Westinghouse, and the engineering company Bechtel have launched programs dedicated to preparing local companies for this task, and some Polish companies have already completed the first phases of a compliance path with the international standards required by the nuclear industry: staff training, verification of production capacities, adaptation of quality systems, and creation of demonstration components—prototypes that prove the company produces according to the required standards. Completing these phases allows the involved companies to compete for future contracts of the Polish project and, potentially, for other international programs based on the same technology.
The opening of the supply chain is therefore a progressive path, open well before the publication of a single tender, in which quality, production reliability, and traceability (the ability to precisely reconstruct the origin and history of every material and component) become an integral part of the industrial proposal.
Romania: refurbishing an existing reactor and completing two others
Romania is proceeding along two parallel lines, both linked to the Cernavodă power plant. The first concerns the refurbishment of its Unit 1, a CANDU technology reactor, a model developed in Canada that uses heavy water instead of normal water as a moderator and coolant, unlike the most common plants in Europe: this feature allows it to operate with natural uranium, while the most common technologies require an enrichment step. Unit 1 entered service in 1996, and the ongoing intervention involves the replacement of main components and the modernization of infrastructure, with the aim of extending its operation for another thirty years.
The civil works related to the project began in September 2025, and in May 2026, the state operator Nuclearelectrica announced the completion of the first continuous concrete pour for the permanent structures, a typical step in the early stages of a construction site of this type. The most delicate phase of the refurbishment, which includes the temporary shutdown of the unit and the replacement of the reactor tubes, will take place between 2027 and 2030.
The second line concerns the completion of Cernavodă Units 3 and 4, also based on CANDU technology. The civil structures of these two units were started in the 1980s and remained partially completed for decades. Nuclearelectrica now indicates 2030 and 2031 as targets for their entry into service, timelines linked to the progress of engineering, authorizations, financing, and the subsequent construction and testing phase.
The industrial dimension of the Romanian program is significant: in its investment strategy for the 2025-2030 period, with a perspective to 2035, Nuclearelectrica estimates an investment portfolio exceeding 20 billion euros for the next decade, which includes the refurbishment of Unit 1, the completion of Units 3 and 4, the development of a small modular reactor in Doicești, and other safety and modernization interventions.
This program also directly involves the Italian industry. In February 2024, Nuclearelectrica, the export credit agency SACE, and Ansaldo Nucleare signed a collaboration agreement to support the development and financing of the refurbishment of Unit 1 and the completion of Units 3 and 4. In November of the same year, Ansaldo Nucleare joined the international consortium tasked with the first phase of the EPCM contract for the new units, alongside the companies AtkinsRéalis, Fluor, and Sargent & Lundy. The acronym EPCM indicates a contract by which a consortium of companies designs the plant, purchases the necessary materials, and coordinates construction, supervising the set of suppliers involved. The involvement of Ansaldo Nucleare and SACE represents a concrete entry point for the Italian supply chain, which can favor the participation of other suppliers with the required technical requirements over time.
France: a supply chain designed to produce reactors in series
The French program is the largest of the three. The state operator EDF plans to build six EPR2 model reactors at the Penly, Gravelines, and Bugey sites, with the possibility of adding another eight in the future. The EPR2 is the updated version of the EPR, a high-power pressurized water reactor model developed by the French industry, this time designed to be built multiple times using standardized processes.
In December 2025, EDF made public a cost estimate of 72.8 billion euros, calculated at 2020 values, for the construction of the first six reactors. The entry into service of the first unit at Penly is planned for 2038, with subsequent units starting at twelve or eighteen-month intervals from each other. At Penly, preparatory work is already underway to prepare the site and set up the areas intended for the two reactors, works that precede the start of the actual nuclear construction.
The presence of multiple identical reactors makes the ability to repeat the same project, the same production processes, and the same supplier chain central. The EPR2 program also stems from the experience gathered with the first EPR built in France, the one in Flamanville, connected for the first time to the French electricity grid on December 21, 2024, after a construction site that had accumulated significant delays compared to initial plans: an experience that the new program aims to correct by focusing on standardization.
The industrial strengthening of the French supply chain is already visible in the announced investments by the main operators. In April 2026, EDF announced an investment of nearly 100 million euros by its subsidiary Arabelle Solutions to build a new 20,000 square meter plant in Chalon-sur-Saône, intended to produce heat exchangers (equipment for the conventional part of the plant, including moisture separator-reheaters and high and low-pressure heaters, used to optimize the thermal cycle and turbine operation) for the six French EPR2s, for the potential eight additional units, and for other international programs. Production is expected to start in 2030: a concrete example of how a nuclear program generates industrial investments, new plants, and new supply needs long before the reactors actually enter service.
What this means in practice for Italian companies
The Polish, Romanian, and French programs follow different technologies, schedules, and management models, and share a common need: suppliers capable of guaranteeing quality, reliability, traceability, and documentary control throughout the entire life cycle of the supply.
For a manufacturing company, entering the nuclear sector requires specific certifications, which vary depending on the project: requirements depend on the technology used, the type of product or service provided, the importance of the component for safety purposes, and the specifications indicated by the client. Among the most frequent references is the ISO 19443 standard, which adapts normal quality management systems to the specific needs of the nuclear sector, imposing additional controls and traceability on companies providing products or services relevant to safety. For mechanical components of pressurized water reactors, such as the Polish AP1000s and French EPR2s, the RCC-M code is often used, a set of technical rules of French origin that establishes how to design and build these components, or the equivalent ASME codes, developed in the United States and among the most widespread in the world for pressure components and vessels. In programs based on Canadian CANDU technology, such as the Romanian one, the standards of the CSA N285 series, specifically designed for the pressure systems and components of this type of plant, are what matter.
Applying these references requires, in practice, intervening in one’s management systems, in the qualification of so-called special processes (such as welding or forging, which in the nuclear sector must be performed by certified personnel and procedures), in material traceability, in production documentation, and in staff training. These are paths that take time: European programs develop over horizons of many years, but decisions on suppliers are prepared well in advance. Companies that start today to evaluate their processes, available skills, and any margins for improvement will reach future opportunities with a stronger position.
Alongside the technical aspects, there is also a relational dimension. Operators such as Westinghouse, Bechtel, Nuclearelectrica, and EDF, together with their main partners, adopt specific procedures to select suppliers, conduct audits and inspections, manage documentation, and control any changes during the work. Understanding this language allows companies to dialogue with clients more effectively, realistically evaluate their possible positioning, and present themselves as credible interlocutors from the very first contacts.
A path to navigate the supply chain
Between observing European programs and operational entry into the supply chain, there is a space for analysis and preparation. It is in this space that CIM Academy Nuclear is positioned.
The path helps companies, managers, and professionals understand the basic technologies, the structure of the supply chain, the main regulatory references, the safety culture, the supplier qualification processes, and the possible routes for market access. The goal is to provide the tools to perform a concrete industrial assessment: understanding which skills are already present in the company, which requirements still need to be developed, and on which segments of the supply chain a credible positioning can exist.
The programs in Poland, Romania, and France will build the industrial geography of European nuclear power for the next twenty years. For Italian companies, understanding their structure today is a useful first step to decide, with method and awareness, if and how to participate.
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