The Archeos project is a heat-generating reactor concept developed by CEA, designed to meet the challenge of carbon neutrality by 2050 by producing heat; the biggest consumer of primary energy.
Archeos is a nuclear thermal generator, running on light water, providing 20 to 50 MW of heat up to 150°C. The solution is based on 4 main design axes derived from market needs:
- Strong intrinsic safety to convince local politicians,
- Simplicity of design to facilitate the safety process and lower costs,
- Easy to set up and finance,
- Rapid deployment by reusing proven technological building blocks.
PTo meet France's energy needs, Archeos stands out for its imminent availability (within 10 years), its lack of need for a cold source, a plant footprint limited to 1 hectare (100m x 100m is sufficient) and intrinsic safety (no core meltdown scenario).
In the decarbonation market, Archeos positions itself against gas and identifies four competing players (biomass, geothermal, heat pumps and future nuclear). The market analysis also identifies a potential of 100 sites in France, with target ecosystems including agrifood, industry and local authorities.
Archeos aims to meet the essential needs of the French (drinking, heating, eating), and has set its sights on operating a fleet of 10 reactors in France by 2040.
To achieve this, in 2024 Archeos will move from an R&D project to an industrial project by bringing together new partners to develop the solution.