U.K.-based Rolls-Royce SMR has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Czech firm Škoda JS to collaborate on the production of key components for a global fleet of small modular reactors (SMR).
The agreement is described as the beginning of a strategic partnership, with Rolls-Royce SMR, now twenty percent owned by the Czech nuclear operator and Škoda JS parent company CEZ, saying that creating long-term relationships with Czech suppliers was an important part of plans to deploy up to three gigawatt of its units in the country.
Ruth Todd is the Rolls-Royce SMR’s Operations & Supply Chain Director. She said, “This agreement … demonstrates our commitment to provide local opportunities to the Czech supply chain. Starting collaboration now will help Škoda JS supply its products to the required high standards and allow us to deliver this transformational opportunity together.”
Silvana Jirotková is the Director of the SMR Development Department at ČEZ. She called it a “significant step in preparing the first Czech small modular reactor. From the beginning, we have emphazised that involving Czech industry in the development and construction of new nuclear sources is our priority, and the cooperation between the British SMR developer and this traditional Pilsen-based company is proof of that”.
František Krček is the Škoda JS CEO. He said, “We are ready, and we have the significant support of our owner to invest further significant resources in the development of the SMR industry. We also want to involve our engineering capacities in this project in addition to our production capacities.”
Rolls-Royce SMR has also signed an agreement with another Czech company, ÚJV Řež, for the analysis, testing, and evaluation of critical SMR components.
In a separate announcement, Rolls-Royce SMR has also joined a multi-million-pound strategic partnership with Curtiss-Wright’s U.K.-based nuclear business.
T Curtiss-Wright’s, formerly Ultra Energy, will provide design, qualification, testing and supply of the Non-programmable Diverse Reactor Protection Systems. These systems are “safety critical back-up instruments, designed to provide an independent means of shutting down a reactor. They are simple and robust, deploying proven-in-use electronic technology and techniques, while avoiding the use of microprocessors, software or programmable devices.”
Ognjen Starovic is the General Manager of Curtiss-Wright. He said, “We have a strong UK-based team focused on supporting this partnership and we’re all excited to be part of the Rolls-Royce SMR story. We take great pride in helping to deliver a British SMR, as well as provide our people with new career opportunities and create long-term job growth in the region.”
Ruth Todd said, “securing industry-leading expertise will further de-risk our program by underpinning a critical element of the design”.
The Rolls-Royce SMR is a four hundred- and seventy-megawatt design based on a small, pressurized water reactor. It will provide consistent baseload generation for at least sixty years. Ninety percent of the SMR will be built in factory conditions, limiting on-site activity primarily to assembly of pre-fabricated, pre-tested, modules. This will significantly reduce project risk and has the potential to drastically shorten build schedules.
In June of this year, it was selected as the U.K. government’s preferred technology for the country’s first SMR project. It aims to sign contracts with Rolls-Royce SMR later this year and will form a development company. It will also allocate a site later this year and connect projects to the grid in the mid-2030s. A final investment decision will be made in 2029.