Rolls-Royce has said it has held “positive talks” on potentially establishing mini-nuclear power stations in Gloucestershire.
Senior representatives at the engineering giant have visited two sites at Oldbury and Berkley, which have been identified by the firm as possible locations to base some of its planned national fleet of small modular nuclear reactors (SMR).
The plants are around a tenth of the size of a conventional nuclear station, 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 tens of thousands of jobs.
The Oldbury site was one of four - alongside Trawsfynydd and Wylfa in Wales and land near the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria - Rolls Royce announced it was prioritising to host the generation of 15GW of nuclear power in November. The Berkeley site also made a further list of potential locations it was exploring for the major project.
A senior team from Rolls-Royce has now toured the two South West sites and held meetings with local stakeholders, including landowners and the Western Gateway - an economic partnership of local authorities, city regions, local enterprise partnerships and government in Wales and the West of England, which previously led an unsuccessful bid to bring the the UK’s first nuclear fusion plant to Oldbury and Berkeley.
BusinessLive understands the Berkeley site may have the potential for “four to six” SMRs while “about four” could be based at Oldbury. A source close to the talks added that the Rolls-Royce team were said to be “very impressed” by South Gloucestershire and Stroud College’s engineering campus at Berkeley.
David White, chief operating officer at Rolls-Royce SMR business, said: “This has been an extremely important step for us – allowing us to better understand the sites, see the potential for Rolls-Royce SMRs and, most importantly, meet representatives from the communities to discuss their aspirations for bringing new nuclear to the region.
"Rolls-Royce SMR’s factory-built power stations will play a significant part in guaranteeing future energy security for the UK and providing clean, affordable electricity for generations to come while supporting thousands of highly skilled jobs.”
Cllr Toby Savage, vice chair of the Western Gateway partnership, said: “It is great to see continued interest in our sites at Oldbury and Berkeley. Our area has a long history of expertise in pioneering new forms of energy generation and it was good to be able to demonstrate this to our guests from Rolls-Royce SMR.
“Sitting at the heart of the Western Gateway, Severn Edge will be a key part of our area reaching net zero while also creating high quality jobs and new educational opportunities for future generations. Alongside our partners, we are in the process of exploring a range of options to make sure we find the best use for these sites to unlock their potential.”
Rolls-Royce SMR said it was currently working with the government to “agree a route forward” to enable it to start building factories, commission supply chain contracts and agree export deals abroad “as soon as possible”.
A site in West Burton, north Nottinghamshire, was selected by the government for the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)’s pioneering prototype fusion power station over the Gloucestershire twin-site bid last year.
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