About the Rolls-Royce SMR

Our technology

At the heart of each Rolls-Royce SMR is a pressurised water reactor (PWR) using well understood technology that is operating in hundreds of nuclear reactors and safely powering millions of homes around the world right now.

The Rolls-Royce SMR’s PWR is a symmetrically arranged, three-loop, close coupled reactor producing 1358MWt of heat. The plant design provides multiple layers of safety, redundancy and back-up systems - meeting the highest standards of safety, security, safeguards and environmental protection.

The heat generated in the nuclear core of the Rolls-Royce SMR is transferred to the water flowing over the fuel. This water is prevented from boiling by keeping the whole primary system at a high pressure, making the heat transfer much more efficient. The heated water then flows through to one of the three steam generators that passes the heat to the lower pressure secondary side, which is allowed to boil, giving us the steam that is then driven through a turbine that powers the generator pushing electricity through to the grid.

While the basic elements of the Rolls-Royce SMR are typical of most PWRs operating today, there are some very modern innovations. The Rolls-Royce SMR has adopted an industry leading boron-free primary circuit design, which has allowed toxic and corrosive boric acid to be eliminated from all duty systems - drastically reducing overall plant water consumption but, more importantly, eliminating this hazardous waste source from daily operations.

The reactor core is protected from external risks and the impact of any ground movement. Internally, the reactor is protected by safety systems that can operate independently of any human intervention so that the core is put into a safe state with no external intervention for up to three days.

Generic Design Assessment

As part of its commitment to openness and transparency, Rolls-Royce SMR welcomes comments and questions about the Rolls-Royce SMR design.

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