Britain’s plan to spend billions of pounds on a fleet of new nuclear reactors could be stopped in their tracks if Prime Minister Theresa May ends the rights of skilled European migrants to work in the nation after it leaves the European Union. That’s the warning delivered on Monday by Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and other nuclear energy experts to Conservative Party members at their annual conference in Manchester, northwest England. The company also outlined plans to invest in new modular atomic power plants. In the coming month, ministers are due to announce the results of a 250 million-pound ($213 million) competition for funding to research and develop small modular nuclear plants, said David Orr, Senior Vice President of Nuclear at the British manufacturing icon. Rolls-Royce is bidding to participate, he said. “There is a clear space for small modular reactors in the energy mix going forward, and our belief is that we can also do these economically,” he said. The company estimates its planned 220 megawatt to 440 megawatt power station would require 1.6 billion to 2 billion pounds of spending and could be running by 2028. By developing one of the first modular reactors, the U.K. could be at the leading edge of a new market that has a potential global market value of 250 billion to 400 billion pounds, according to the National Nuclear Laboratory.
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