Rolls-Royce SMR has confirmed that it is targeting sites in North Wales for Small Modular Reactors.

Rolls Royce SMR CEO, Tom Samson, joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary of State, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, and Minister of State, Greg Hands MP, on a visit to Wylfa to discuss the potential for bringing new nuclear to the island of Anglesey.

“North Wales, alongside West Cumbria, has some of the best sites to locate the first Rolls-Royce small modular reactor (SMR) power plants,” said Mr Samson. 

“The existing grid connection, infrastructure and access to a highly skilled workforce are some of the main reasons Rolls-Royce SMR sees these locations as the fastest route to deploy our power stations and begin to provide the UK with clean, affordable and sustainable electricity for generations to come.”

During the visit, the Government’s Future Nuclear Enabling Fund (FNEF) was announced by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. 

Tom Samson welcomed the announcement, saying: “The launch of the fund is excellent news and we welcome any move by government that reduces development risk and introduces certainty – which can be a barrier to building new nuclear plants at pace.

“Given the huge potential for building Rolls-Royce SMRs across the UK, the new fund – alongside the launch of the Great British Nuclear initiative – could be instrumental in helping down select the sites and begin delivering against the Government’s aspirations for up to 24GW of new nuclear power by 2050.”

Rolls-Royce SMR

Dan Gould

Head of Communications

M +44 (0) 7717 720809

[email protected] 

https://www.rolls-royce-smr.com/ 

Notes to Editors: 

Rolls-Royce has been a nuclear reactor plant designer since the start of the UK nuclear submarine programme in the 1950s.  Rolls-Royce SMR will draw upon standard nuclear energy technology that has been used in 400 reactors around the world.   

The Rolls-Royce SMR power station will have the capacity to generate 470MW of low carbon energy, equivalent to more than 150 onshore wind turbines. It will provide consistent baseload generation for at least 60 years, helping to support the roll out of renewable generation and overcome intermittency issues.