U.K.-based Rolls-Royce SMR is majority-owned by Rolls-Royce. It has been selected by the U.K.’s Great British Energy – Nuclear to develop a new fleet of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This is part of a three billion four hundred-million-dollar initiative that the U.K. government says will “bolster energy security, create jobs and reduce carbon emissions.”
The project could also create a lucrative opportunity for industrial gas suppliers, especially those providing high-purity nitrogen, argon, helium, and uranium hexafluoride.
The chosen SMR design utilizes enriched uranium fuel and complex fabrication processes. These features rely on various gases across the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium conversion to fuel rod integrity testing.
Uranium enrichment involves converting uranium oxide into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), which is then heated to form a gas. The gas is then fed into centrifuges. These centrifuges separate uranium isotopes, increasing the proportion of fissile U-235 to that required for fuel. The enriched uranium is then condensed and prepared for fuel fabrication.
While uranium enrichment occurs upstream and outside the U.K., the production and handling of UF6 is critical to any increase in nuclear capacity. It is also highly regulated under various laws which are mainly focused on safe transport and storage.
The fabrication of nuclear fuel rods involves high-precision welding and testing which often requires an inert gas environment. Nitrogen is often used to prevent oxidation of fuel assemblies, while helium or argon can be used for
Rolls-Royce is scaling its SMR production over the four-year project. During the project, demand for these high-purity gases could increase, especially in the U.K. if local supply chains are developed.
Rolls-Royce SMRs are not helium-cooled (unlike some next-gen high-temperature gas-cooled reactors). However, helium is still used in testing and component validation phases. Any U.K.-based expansion of advanced reactor research and development could further impact helium demand and supply chains.
The localization feature of the SMR program suggests that domestic supply chains, including industrial gas suppliers, are likely to be favored. This was supported by U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, who said, “the UK is back where it belongs. We’re backing Britain … to ensure 70% of supply chain products are British built, delivering our plan for change through more jobs and putting more money in people’s pockets.”.
This could open up opportunities for U.K.-based gas cylinder manufacturers, purification firms, and specialty gas providers to align with the needs of the country’s nuclear power sector, which the Nuclear Industry Association values at twenty billion dollars.
It could also position Britain as a frontrunner in developing breakthrough technology for the global SMR market, projected to reach five hundred billion dollars by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency.
These developments support the U.K.’s desire to end what Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called the “no-nuclear status quo.” He added, “[We are] entering a golden age of nuclear [energy] with the biggest building program in a generation.”.
SMR development could also be critical to the U.K. reaching its decarbonization goals. Tom Greatex is the CEO of the UK’s Nuclear Industry Association. In 2022, he said, “nuclear is going to be the bedrock of our future mix to remove our reliance on volatile fossil fuels, and to back up renewables.”.
Currently, around fifteen percent of the U.K.’s electricity comes from nuclear, but the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) aims to expand this to twenty-four gigawatts by 2050, meeting roughly twenty five percent of the country’s power needs.
While the timeline for deploying the new SMRs extends into the 2030s, industrial gas companies which supply the nuclear sector may already be eyeing long-term contract opportunities. With nuclear power back on the U.K.’s strategic agenda, the industrial gases industry could have an important role to play enabling this part of the energy transition.