PARIS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Italian small-modular-reactor

startup Newcleo is considering developing 20 reactors worth an

estimated 16 billion euros ($19 billion) in the United States,

not in Britain as previously planned, as recent policy changes

opened opportunity for investment, CEO Stefano Buono told

Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May

to boost domestic nuclear production by cutting down regulations

and fast-tracking new licenses.

Hyperscalers, which are large data centre developers,

like Microsoft ( MSFT ), are meanwhile investing in nuclear

power to provide stable supply to the energy-intensive centres.

That contrasts with slow development in Europe, where

approvals can sometimes take two to three times longer than in

the U.S.

"There are a lot of tools that are encouraging investment

into the U.S. now," said Buono.

Newcleo is also competing in a tender to develop fuel

production in the U.S.

The company, which recently moved its headquarters to France

from Britain, is considering shifting its deployment programme

of 20 reactors from Britain to the U.S. and estimates that each

reactor will have an investment cost of around 800 million

euros, Buono said.

However, no final investment decision has been made and

there are plenty of steps left before one is taken, a

spokesperson for the company said.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Emelia

Sithole-Matarise)