Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR), which is majority-owned by Rolls-Royce, has been established to set up sites around the country that will be approximately a tenth the size of traditional reactors. These mini nuclear power stations would use modules constructed in factories that enable on-site assembly of the plant. Rolls-Royce is hoping to build its first small nuclear reactor, which has generation capacity of 470MW, in the early 2030s.
The sheer size and scale of conventional nuclear power stations has made it challenging to secure investors for new stations to replace the capacity of those due to be decommissioned in the coming years. It is hoped that the small modular approach will make it considerably cheaper to bring zero-carbon electricity onto the grid via new nuclear power stations.
Last month, it was announced that Rolls-Royce SMR had secured investment to bring the project forward. Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Ltd and US-based...
