Rolls-Royce seeks bids for site to make small nuclear power plants. British aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce has begun competition between the regions of England and Wales as the location of a major factory for the construction of a planned fleet of small nuclear reactors. An industry consortium led by Rolls-Royce has sent letters to several regional development agencies in England and the Government of Wales to ask them to sell a site. The consortium secured £ 210 million from government After raising the same amount of private funding last year, we are heading towards the development of a fleet of mini-reactors. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson supported small modular reactors as part of the “Green Industrial Revolution” 10-point program to help the government achieve its 2050 net zero carbon target. This technology is seen as an excellent way not only to create manufacturing jobs within the government, but also to realize Johnson’s “upgrade” agenda and support developing regions.
FT 24th Jan 2022 read more »
Rolls-Royce has launched a competition between regions in England and Wales to be the location of a factory to build mini nuclear reactors. An industry consortium led by Rolls-Royce has written to several of England’s regional development bodies and the Welsh government asking them to pitch for the manufacturing site,
EGI 24th Jan 2022 read more »
The reactors themselves will be installed at existing nuclear sites in Britain. Rolls-Royce has not yet committed to any sites but Wylfa and Trawsfynydd in north Wales are believed to be under consideration. The company and its partners, which include Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and France’s wealthy Perrodo family, expect to decide on where to locate the factory this year and to start construction soon after. They face a tight timetable if they are to stay on track to meet their ambition to complete the first 470MW plant by the early 2030s. Alongside the site selection, the companies are putting their SMR design through the UK’s rigorous nuclear regulatory regime, a process that is expected to take up to four years.
Irish Times 23rd Jan 2022 read more »
The Welsh Government has been invited to compete with regions in England to be the location of a factory to build small nuclear reactors. Both Wylfa and Trawsfynydd have already been mooted as the location of two of the small modular reactors due to be built by an industry consortium led by Rolls-Royce. That same consortium has now written to the Welsh Government asking them to pitch for the £200m site where the reactors will be built, with 200 jobs promised. The main factory will build some of the key components of the reactors which will then be assembled at sites around the UK. The letter by Rolls-Royce promised “high value, sustainable jobs which will produce products that will be exported globally for many decades to come”. It also made clear that they were looking for possible “financial and non-financial support” from the host.
Nation Cymru 24th Jan 2022 read more »