Rolls Royce’s small modular reactor design moved a step closer to fruition on Tuesday as the UK nuclear regulator said it had completed the second stage of its assessment of the technology.
Britain’s new labour government has said small nuclear plants will play an important role in helping the country meet its net zero targets but before any new technology can be deployed it must first gain approval from the country’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
Britain’s ONR said the Rolls-Royce SMR 470 megawatt (MW) Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design had completed stage two of its four-step generic design assessment (GDA) – the formal process for approving a new reactor.
“The team will move directly into Step 3 of this rigorous independent assessment of our technology – ideally positioning us to deliver low-carbon nuclear power and support the UK transition to net zero,” said Helena Perry, Rolls-Royce SMR’s Safety and Regulatory Affairs Director.
Large new nuclear projects with high upfront costs have struggled to attract financing and the government hopes some older plants could be replaced by a fleet of SMRs that can be made in factories with lower costs and faster construction.
Britain last year opened a competition to help develop the technology with the aim of deploying projects in the 2030s.
(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
