Small nuclear reactors competition launched by UK Government

The UK Government has promised grants of up to £157 million to support nuclear technology projects and has launched a competition for businesses to develop a new range of nuclear reactors.

From Tuesday companies will be able to sign up with a new arm’s-length Government body, Great British Nuclear.

The companies could then be able to tap into “billions of pounds” of Government and private money to help develop smaller nuclear power plants, energy security secretary Grant Shapps is set to announce on Tuesday.

It was unclear how much Government money Mr Shapps was planning to put towards the development of these smaller, more agile, nuclear reactors.

The so-called small modular reactors (SMRs) that Mr Shapps wants to build are still unproven at any scale.

The idea is to design nuclear power plants which are small enough to be manufactured in factories and then transported to where they are going to be used.

This, the theory goes, will allow builders to benefit from the economies of scale of mass-production.

The first prototypes have started operating in Russia and China within the last three years.

Target

The UK Government has promised that GB Nuclear will help the Government hit its target that around a quarter of Britain’s electricity will come from nuclear by 2050.

However, it is the latest in a series of promises made by successive governments to ramp up the country’s falling nuclear production.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher’s government promised 10 new nuclear power plants, to be built at a pace of one a year from 1982. Only one was ever built, Sizewell B.

Decades later Tony Blair promised a new generation of nuclear power plants which would help to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions.

Reviving Mr Blair’s plans years after, David Cameron’s government promised to build eight power plants. Out of these none have been completed, although Hinkley Point C is under construction.

Ahead of his speech later on Tuesday Mr Shapps said: “Britain has a rich history as a pioneer of nuclear power, having launched the era of civil nuclear power – and I’m proud to be turbocharging its revival and placing our country once again at the forefront of global innovation.

“By rapidly boosting our homegrown supply of nuclear and other clean, reliable, and abundant energy, we will drive down bills for British homes and make sure the UK is never held to energy ransom by tyrants like Putin.

“Today, as we open Great British Nuclear and the competition to develop cutting-edge small modular reactor technology, which could result in billions of pounds of public and private sector investment, we are seeing the first brush strokes of our nuclear power renaissance to power up Britain and grow our economy for decades to come.”

Grants

Alongside the launch of GB Nuclear the Government also announced that it would give grants of up to £157 million to several different projects.

This includes up to £77 million to accelerate the development of a nuclear business in the UK and support new designs.

This will maximise the chance of small and advanced modular reactors being built during the next parliament, the Government said.

Up to a further £58 million will be available for the development and designs of a new advanced modular reactor, which operate at higher temperatures, and new types of fuel.

Last year Rolls-Royce named Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd and Wylfa on Anglesey as potential locations for its a new small modular reactor (SMR).

In December 2022, the engineering company Balfour Beatty also confirmed its intention to support the construction of a new SMR to rival Rolls-Royce and was linked with the Trawsfynydd site.

Cwmni Egino, a development company backed by the Welsh Government, has confirmed plans to bring small modular reactor (SMR) technology to Trawsfynydd.

A spokesperson for the company said it was “technology agnostic” and was “in discussions with a range of technology providers.”

The existing nuclear station at Trawsfynydd which at its peak employed over 700 people, closed in 1993 and decommissioning has been ongoing since 1995.

Wylfa nuclear power station came online in 1971. In 2012, Reactor 2 was shut down, followed by Reactor 1 in December 2015.