Rolls-Royce SMR has a shortlist of six possible locations in the U.K. for the first of three factories for the manufacture of its small modular reactor (SMR) power plants.
The company said that locations for the shortlist were selected based on a clear set of criteria. They were selected from over one hundred submissions from locate enterprise partnerships and development agencies suggesting sites across the U.K. where the Rolls-Royce SMR factories could be located. The locations of the final shortlisted sites for the first plant include Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, Richmond in North Yorkshire, Deeside in Wales, Ferrybridge in Yorkshire, Stallingborough in Lincolnshire and Carlisle in Cumbria.
Rolls-Royce said that the first plant will be the biggest and most complex facility of the three. “Therefore, it is important to take decisions early to enable its deployment. Construction will begin once Rolls-Royce SMR receives the go-ahead to build a fleet of SMRs in the UK.”
Tom Samson is the CEO of Rolls-Royce SMR. He said, “The response was fantastic and shows the ambition and appetite of the UK to build and operate a fleet of SMRs which will provide affordable, low-carbon electricity for generations to come. The final location will come from the shortlist and will result in significant investment, long-term high-skilled jobs and will support the U.K. government's aspirations for levelling-up. Today's announcement is another example of the pace of our project and why Rolls-Royce SMR is the UK's domestic nuclear energy champion.”
The other two factories will manufacture civils modules and mechanical, electrical and plumbing modules. These modules will be transported to sites and assembled into a nuclear power plant. The company stated, "These locations will be selected from the full list of submissions which will give all locations further opportunities to host a Rolls-Royce SMR factory.”
The Rolls-Royce SMR design was accepted for Generic Design Assessment review in March with the U.K.'s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy asking the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
A Rolls-Royce led U.K. consortium intends to build sixteen SMRs. The consortium includes Assystem, Atkins, BAM Nuttall, Jacobs, Laing O'Rourke, National Nuclear Laboratory, the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and TWI. It’s goal is to complete its first unit in the early 2030s and build up to ten by 2035.
In order to minimize the construction phase of the program, the U.K. SMR is fully modularized with the reactor. It will measure about fifty-three feet by thirteen feet. The SMR will be transportable by road, rail or sea.
Targeting a five-hundred-day modular build, the consortium claims that this concept minimizes the onsite time and effort required to construct and build the plant.
Rolls-Royce SMR states that about ninety percent of manufacturing and assembly activities will be carried out in factory conditions. This will assist in maintaining an extremely high-quality product, reducing onsite disruption and support international roll out.
Considering that several companies working on prototypes for nuclear fusion reactors intend to have a prototype commercial fusion reactor by 2030, the plans for constructing a few SMR reactors by 2035 may be too late to capture significant energy market share.