However, funds at Rolls-Royce SMR are due to run out in early 2025, so Rolls-Royce and its other investors need to decide between putting more money in themselves, selling equity to third-party investors, or both, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
A closer look: The Rolls-Royce SMR design has the capacity to generate 470 megawatts and serve as a baseload power source for decades.
“Each Rolls-Royce SMR ‘factory-built’ nuclear power plant will provide enough clean, affordable, electricity to power a million homes for 60-plus years—delivering energy security, enabling net zero, and making a transformational contribution to the U.K. economy,” said Helena Perry, Rolls-Royce SMR’s safety and regulatory affairs director.
The SMR requires a site that is one-tenth the size of what’s needed for a large-scale nuclear plant, and its pieces would be manufactured in a factory and delivered to the site via truck, train, or barge. Rolls-Royce announced in May its plan to set up a multimillion facility in Sheffield, England, to manufacture and test SMR prototypes.
A reported £280 million has already been poured into Rolls-Royce SMR by investors, including Rolls-Royce itself, as well as BNF Resources, Constellation, and the Qatar Investment Authority.
In addition, £210 million of grant funding has been provided by the U.K. government.
Generic Design Assessment: Nuclear regulators—the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the Environment Agency, and Natural Resources Wales (NRW)—launched the U.K.’s SMR program last year.
GDA is a three-step process—initiation, fundamental assessment, and detailed assessment—performed to gauge the safety, security, and environmental protection aspects of a nuclear plant design. The ONR examines the safety and security of the technology while the other regulatory bodies focus on the environment and radioactive waste.
The hope is that GDA will culminate in a design acceptance confirmation from the ONR and a statement of design acceptability from the Environment Agency.
In July, the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) submitted the United Kingdom’s first-ever application for a justification decision for the Rolls-Royce SMR design. While this is a step in the overall process, the NIA’s approval would be based on high-level evaluation and not apply to a specific project.
