The North East has moved a step closer to a £200m investment and more than 200 jobs after two regional sites made the shortlist for the home of Rolls-Royce’s first factory set to build small modular reactors.
The engineering giant announced a competition at the start of the year, asking development bodies to bid for the initial site for the small modular reactors’ (SMR) construction, pledging investment of some £200m as well as the creation of more than 200 skilled jobs. The company’s SMR project claims it can cut the cost of nuclear power by building reactor parts in factories and it plans to construct a series of reactors which would each be able to power around one million homes.
Now Sunderland’s IAMP and Forrest Park in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, have been revealed on the shortlist of locations in England and Wales for the first all-important factory. Other shortlisted locations are Catterick 53, Richmond, North Yorkshire; Gateway in Deeside, North Wales; Ferrybridge in Yorkshire; Grimsby & Pioneer Park, Stallingborough, Greater Lincolnshire and Kingmoor Park, Carlisle, Cumbria.
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The Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive, Tom Samson, said: “I would like to thank everyone who sent in a submission suggesting locations in their region for the first Rolls-Royce SMR factory. 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 UK 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.”
A technical team has reviewed potential shortlisted locations based on their access to major road networks, local skills and local incentives for renewable power generation.
Two other plants are also set to be built, to focus on the construction of mechanical engineering and plumbing parts for the reactors, and their locations have yet to be decided. Their locations will be picked from the full list of areas that pitched for the project.
Last month Rolls-Royce said that it can only deliver its first mini nuclear plant by its 2029 target date if the Government commits this year to the technology it needs.
The FTSE 100 firm’s ambitious plans will see the mini reactors built in factories around the country – with the first focusing on construction of heavy-pressure vessels forming part of the reactor – and then assembled on site, a construction system that it says cuts the risks and huge costs associated with the construction of big nuclear power plants.
Rolls-Royce has been a nuclear reactor plant designer since the start of the UK nuclear submarine programme in the 1950s. It says the Rolls-Royce SMRs will draw upon standard nuclear energy technology that has been used in 400 reactors around the world.
Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “This is fantastic news for Sunderland, North Yorkshire, Deeside, Lincolnshire and Carlisle which, if these SMRs go ahead, could be at the forefront of manufacturing components for this British-made tech.
“Backed by £210m, SMRs have the potential to provide quicker and cheaper low-carbon nuclear power, and today’s announcement underlines the potential for new jobs around the country created by embracing this new technology.”
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