WOBO notes the move to small nuclear reactors as notified by “edie”.

The UK Government has asked the nuclear industry regulator to begin the approval process for Rolls-Royce’s small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), which Boris Johnson first signalled support for through the Ten-Point Plan in 2020.

It was announced on Monday (7 March) that the Department for Business, Industry and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has requested that the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) begin the approval process for Rolls-Royce’s 470MW SMR design.

While the process typically takes around four or five years for large-scale reactor designs, it is likely to be shorter in this instance.

Rolls-Royce stated in 2020 that its ambition is to bring 16 of the SMRs online across the UK by 2025. It touts a 60-year lifespan for each reactor and claims each one is capable of powering more than one million homes.

A key selling point of SMRs is that they would be quicker to deliver than large-scale nuclear plants and that they would have less of an impact on local communities.

With this in mind, the UK Government recently built on its Ten-Point Plan commitment from 2020 with a £210m funding pot for SMRs. That funding was added to £250m from the private sector. The entirety of the Government’s funding went to Rolls-Royce. For context, each SMR from Rolls-Royce is expected to take some £2bn to deliver.  Read more….

UK Government kick-starts approval process for Rolls Royce’s small nuclear reactors