Stratek Global has entered into a strategic partnership with French engineering, procurement and construction firm Groupe Albatros to accelerate the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) across Africa and the Middle East.

The partnership combines Stratek Global’s experience in high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor technology with Groupe Albatros’ expertise in large-scale infrastructure project execution.

Initial project feasibility studies and site selection will begin in South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria and Oman – marking the first phase of the partnership’s implementation.

“Currently, worldwide, a limitation of most nuclear power plants is that they need to use the ocean for cooling or a very large lake. We can put our HTMR-100 reactor absolutely anywhere – water or no water,” says Kelvin Kemm, Chairman and CEO of Stratek Global. Another advantage of the small reactors is that up to 10 of them can be placed on one site and more reactors can be added at any time, he says.

Discussions with various governments indicate growing demand for domestic fuel fabrication facilities or diversified supply sources, says Kemm. Additionally, key reactor components should be manufactured across multiple plants to strengthen energy security and ensure long-term resilience.

“We have the capability to apply advanced manufacturing and continuous production techniques. A major cost advantage of modular reactor construction is that much of the assembly can take place indoors, on a factory production line, using precision engineering and strict quality control,” says Henri-Guillaume Gueydan, Chairman of Groupe Albatros.

Interest in SMRs is expanding beyond national governments. “We have been approached by provinces, municipalities, individual companies and even agricultural groupings,” says Kemm.