Nuclear power is a way to get non-fossil fuel power to free Europe from a dependency on Russia. But Europe’s nuclear reactors are old. There is political opposition to new ones. Those already in construction have extreme cost and time overruns. Nothing new significant expected until 2030.
NuScale Power, an Oregon company selling a new reactor design that it claims will be cheaper and quicker to build because key components will be assembled in factories, has signed preliminary deals in Romania and Poland.
This NYT articles summarizes what I have been posting for years. It is well done, but it is a little shy on the new small reactors being designed. These small reactors are not ready to be be mass produced to combat Russian energy issues and climate change issues.
Yes many European countries are anxiously waiting for these new small reactors to be built, tested and verified to be safe, economical, and easy to build. These answers will not be known for another 10 years.
Several countries are working on small reactor designs besides the US.
NuScale is not selling actual operating reactors at fixed price to Romania and Poland. That will take 10 years to happen if they meet all the requirements listed above.
In the mean time Europe must double down on building more renewable power generation and energy storage to mitigate Russian energy imports and climate change issues. Renewable power generation and energy storage is getting cheaper every year while nuclear power gets more expensive every year.