Rolls-Royce has identified four potential sites to develop its new generation of mini-nuclear power stations.
The engineering giant is considering land near the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, Oldbury in South Gloucestershire as well as Welsh locations Trawsfynydd and Wylfa in Anglesey, for its small modular nuclear reactors (SMR).
The plants are around a tenth of the size of a conventional nuclear plant, and could each generate enough power for around one million homes. The plans have already generated hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and are expected to create thousands of jobs.
Rolls-Royce’s SMR subsidiary completed a siting assessment review alongside the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The Trawsfynydd and Sellafield sites are currently under NDA control, while the organisation leases the Wylfa and Oldbury land to a third party, Horizon Nuclear Power.
In addition, Rolls-Royce published a further list of possible locations for more SMRs, including Berkeley in Gloucestershire, Hartlepool, Heysham in Lancashire and Bradwell in Essex, pending further investigation.
Tom Samson, chief executive of Rolls-Royce’s SMR business said: "Identifying the sites that can host our SMRs is a key step to our efficient deployment – the sooner that work can begin at site, the sooner we can deliver stable, secure supplies of low-carbon nuclear power from SMRs designed and built in the UK.
“We must maintain this positive momentum and work with NDA and Government departments, to ensure we capitalise on the range of siting options, focusing on those that maximise benefit to the taxpayer while enabling power to come online as close to 2030 as possible.”
NDA chief executive David Peatties added: “This study is a tangible step forward in our mission to safely decommission our sites and free up land for future use, delivering benefit to local communities and so to the wider economy.”
Rolls-Royce’s SMR business previously said it could get the regulatory go-ahead for the project by 2024, with the hope that the SMRs could then go on to produce power for the national grid by 2029.
The Oldbury and Berkley site was recently part of a twin site bid to bring the UK’s first nuclear fusion plant to the South West.
The bid, run by the Western Gateway - an economic partnership of local authorities, city regions, local enterprise partnerships and government in Wales and the West of England, eventually lost out to a site in West Burton, north Nottinghamshire.
Western Gateway chair Katherine Bennett said: “Through our fusion bid, we’ve been working to raise the profile of our area, leverage the great skills we have and create opportunities for local people in England and Wales and it’s testament to the success of that campaign that we are continuing to see new opportunities appear.
“The UK SMR programme is estimated to bring 40,000 jobs to England and Wales and it’s great to see Western Gateway being considered as part of that. We are confident that both Oldbury and Berkeley can provide unique access to a highly skilled workforce, a supportive community and a chance to level up areas of England and Wales.”
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