Rolls-Royce’s small modular reactors enter approval process after successful funding round
Rolls-Royce’s small modular reactors (SMR) are a step closer to construction after the government asked the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to begin the approval process for the project.
ONR revealed it had been asked to begin a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd’s 470 megawatt SMR plans.
A GDA is the formal process for approving a new nuclear reactor. This is the first time a small scale reactor has been assessed by regulator.
It said: “The assessment will begin once the necessary arrangements around timescales and resources have been put in place.”
The process typically takes around 4-5 years for large scale reactor designs.
Downing Street hopes the SMRs will reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels – insulating the UK from future gas market shocks and reducing emissions in line with its target for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Gas prices have soared to record levels today, with the West considering energy sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prices touched £8 per therm, raising concerns of further hikes to household energy bills later this year.
The UK government has supported the project with £210m in public funding, to go alongside £280m raised privately.
SMRs can be made in factories, with parts small enough to be transported on trucks and barges and assembled more quickly and cheaply than large-scale reactors.
Each mini-plant can power around one million homes and Rolls-Royce has forecast the SMR business could create up to 40,000 jobs based on British and export demand.
Rolls-Royce is planning to build four SMR at a price of £2bn each and has already begun the bidding process for prospective sites across England and Wales.
This is three times more than most existing nuclear submarine reactors but six times less than the 3.2 gigawatts that powers the large plant under construction at Hinkley Point or the identical proposed site at Sizewell C.
Commenting on the developments, a Nuclear Industry Association spokesperson 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.”