Rolls-Royce’s hopes of building mini nuclear power stations have taken a significant step forward after Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, asked government regulators to assess its designs.
Rolls-Royce has raised about £500m to develop the Small Modular Reactors (SMR) reactors, which could help reduce Britain’s reliance on electricity generated from fossil fuels.
It has won investment from Qatar; billionaire French oil dynasty the Perrodo family, which made its fortune from the private oil company Perenco, and US nuclear giant Exelon Generation. It also received £210m of taxpayer funding to develop the project.
Rolls aims to develop a reactor that can largely be made in a factory. Making hundreds of them would significantly reduce development costs as well as making them more flexible and affordable.
Conventional nuclear power plants are often made to bespoke designs to suit local laws and regulations and are made onsite. That has often led to spiralling costs that in turn make them harder to fund privately, or for less wealthy nations to afford.
The Rolls design will now enter the generic design assessment process with the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.
Tom Samson, Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive, said entering that process was another major milestone towards its goal of deploying a fleet of small nuclear reactors that can produce affordable, low carbon electricity.
“The UK regulatory process is internationally recognised and respected. We welcome the scrutiny and challenge that goes into the assessment of our nuclear power plant design,” he said.
Rolls will need many more hundreds of millions of pounds to complete research, testing and design of its proposed power plants.
It wants to start producing the plants in the early 2030s and charge about £1.8bn for the 470 megawatt units, which will generate enough to power a city the size of Sheffield.
While only a seventh the size of the forthcoming Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset, it the price tag is a twelfth of the cost of that project.
The smaller size also makes them usable on parts of old nuclear sites around Britain that already have electric grid access and transport for fuel and waste.
Mr Kwarteng said: “This is a significant step in bringing SMRs into existence. We’re proud to back Rolls’ plan with an initial £210m to develop their design.”
It is also a vital development for the UK’s nuclear industry, which has suffered cost overruns for Hinkley Point C. The bill for the project has risen by about £5bn in the past five years.
Trade body the Nuclear Industry Association said: “This is a vital step forward for British nuclear technology. The UK needs the Rolls-Royce SMR to strengthen our energy security and cut our dependence on gas as we move toward net zero.
“The SMR can also play an essential role in enhancing British industrial capability, creating tens of thousands of jobs, revitalising the nuclear skills base and boosting the green economic recovery.”
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Keyword: Rolls-Royce's plans for mini nuclear power stations take significant step forward