Rolls-Royce among four shortlisted to make small modular reactors

The process to build the first wave of mini nuclear plants in Britain has moved a step closer, with Rolls-Royce among four companies shortlisted to provide a design for the nascent technology.
Alongside Rolls-Royce, Holtec, Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi, a joint venture between GE Vernova, the American energy equipment manufacturer, and Hitachi, the Japanese conglomerate, were the successful bidders going through to the next round to compete for £20 billion in government funding for small modular reactors.
The selection process is being led by Great British Nuclear, an arm’s-length, state-backed body set up by the previous government to drive forward the deployment of nuclear power. “In the next stage of the procurement process, bidders will be invited to enter negotiations with GBN,” it said.
The plan is for the winning one or two designs to be selected before the end of the year, with contract negotiations to take place in the spring.
EDF, the French state-backed energy group that also operates the remaining fleet of nuclear power stations in Britain, had been in the running, but it opted not to submit an initial tender in July.
Chris Cholerton, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce SMR, said his group was the only small modular reactor company in Britain and was already 18 months ahead of competitors in the regulatory approvals process. “Today’s news that we will progress to formal negotiation with GBN will help us to maintain this important first-mover advantage,” he said.
This month Rolls was chosen to build a fleet of mini nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic, the first deal of its kind in Europe, in what was seen as a vote of confidence in its technology.
Andy Champ, the UK lead at GE-Hitachi, said that site works were already under way in Canada for its BWRX-300 design. “We are in a strong position to lead SMR deployment in the UK by leveraging our expertise in other markets,” he said.
The first small modular reactor is not expected to be generating electricity before 2035, so therefore it will not be in time to contribute towards Labour’s 2030 net zero goals. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has said that the new government will “strive” to keep to the timetable previously set out.
Questions remain about who will finance the construction and operation of modular reactors, as well as what stake, if any, the government will retain in the new plants. It is envisioned that once a final investment decision has been taken on the first modular reactors, private financing could be sought.
Advocates of small modular reactors say that the technology provides a more cost-effective and faster way of boosting Britain’s supply of nuclear power, which can provide a baseload of power as more intermittent renewable energy comes on to the system.
Nuclear accounts for about 14 per cent of the UK’s electricity mix, down from 20 per cent as recently as 2018. All bar one of the remaining nuclear power stations are due to be decommissioned by the end of the decade. Only one new generator is under construction, by EDF at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, while talks are dragging on over funding for a proposed sister station at Sizewell C in Suffolk.
Unlike the previous government, Labour has not set any targets for Britain’s nuclear capacity, but Miliband has said that there should be “no doubt about my absolute support for the SMR programme”.
In June, Tufan Erginbilgic, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce, said Britain was at risk of missing out on building the supply chain for small reactors if the winning designs were not chosen by the end of the year.
Where the first reactors will be built is yet to be decided. A deal in March with Hitachi brought two sites — Wylfa on Anglesey and Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire — back under government ownership. Moorside, which is adjacent to the Sellafield facility in Cumbria, is also state-owned, which makes all three likely potential sites for the first mini reactors.
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, said: “We are reversing a legacy of no new nuclear power being delivered, ensuring the long-term security of the nuclear sector. Small modular reactors will play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean power while securing thousands of good, skilled jobs.”
Unlike conventional nuclear plants, small modular reactors can be factory-built, take up the space of one or two football pitches and have a capacity of between 300 and 500 megawatts. That is about a sixth to a tenth of the 3.2-gigawatt capacity that is set to be offered by Hinkley Point C, which is being built over a site equivalent to 245 football pitches.
Great British Nuclear has selected companies that say they will build smaller versions of conventional tried-and-tested technologies, rather than pioneering new designs such as Terrapower, an American developer backed by Bill Gates, which uses sodium fast reactor technology. The shortlisted designers insist that they are building mini versions of existing pressurised water reactors, such as Rolls-Royce’s design, or boiling water reactor technology, like that put forward by GE-Hitachi, that have already been tested at a larger scale.
Rolls-Royce has said that its pressurised water reactor would generate 470MW of electricity, enough to power a million homes, with a 60-year lifespan. GE Hitachi, based in North Carolina, proposes to build 300MW reactors, as do Westinghouse Electric, a Pennsylvania-based group owned by Cameco, of Canada, and Brookfield Renewable Partners, and Holtec International, from New Jersey.
The theory is logical. Small Modular reactors can be mass-produced in factories, delivering efficiencies and eliminating construction risk. However, while compelling, the approach has yet to be proven. Westinghouse was driven to chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 after attempting off-site prefabrication for two large-scale plants.