Rolls-Royce SMR has partnered with Swedish nuclear technology firm Studsvik AB to support its small modular reactor (SMR) programme, marking another step towards deployment.
Studsvik, an established supplier of nuclear analysis software and specialised services to the international nuclear industry, is the latest in a string of collaborations Rolls-Royce SMR has signed over the past year as it moves towards commissioning its modular, ‘factory-built’ nuclear power plant.
In a bid to kickstart what energy secretary Ed Miliband called the “golden age” of nuclear energy, the government confirmed last summer it was to invest £14.2bn in the upcoming Sizewell C nuclear plant, as well as a further £2.5bn for SMRs. It also confirmed that it had selected Rolls-Royce SMR as the preferred bidder to partner with Great British Energy – Nuclear on SMR plants.
Unlike large nuclear power plants, which take a lot of investment and a lot of time to build (sometimes a decade or more), SMRs are built in a factory...