The Rolls-Royce SMR, also known as the UK SMR, is a

small modular reactor Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a proposed class of nuclear fission reactors, smaller than conventional nuclear reactors, which can be built in one location (such as a factory), then shipped, commissioned, and operated at a separate site. The ...

(SMR) being developed by the

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

(RR) company in the United Kingdom. The company has been given financial support by the UK Government to develop its design. It is estimated that the 470MWe units will cost around £1.8billion once in full production, compared with £22billion for a full-sized nuclear power station such as the planned 3,300MWe Sizewell C. Construction time and site size needed will also be lower.

History

RR began design work on the SMR with a team of about 150 people, with decisions made near the start of the project to use light water as both coolant and moderator. In 2016, it was reported that the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

was assessing

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

SMR sites - including the former

Trawsfynydd nuclear power station Trawsfynydd nuclear power station ( cy, Atomfa Trawsfynydd) is a decommissioned Magnox nuclear power station situated in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, Wales. The plant, which became operational in 1965, was the only nuclear power station i ...

- and on the site of former nuclear or coal-fired power stations in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. Existing nuclear sites including Bradwell, Hartlepool,

Heysham Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two nuclear power stations. Demography Administratively, Heysham is part of th ...

, Oldbury,

Sizewell Sizewell is an English fishing hamlet in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It belongs to the civil parish of Leiston and lies on the North Sea coast just north of the larger holiday village of Thorpeness, between the coastal town ...

, Sellafield and

Wylfa Wylfa nuclear power station ( cy, Atomfa'r Wylfa) is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. Wylfa is situated west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales. Construction of the two 490MW n ...

were stated to be possibilities. In 2017, the consortium headed by RR needed to seek UK government finance to support further development. In December 2017 The UK government provided funding of up to £56million over three years to support SMR research and development. In 2019, the government committed a further £18million to the development from its Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, to begin designing the modular system. In November 2021, the UK government provided funding of £210million to further develop the design, partly matched by £195million of investment by

Rolls-Royce Group Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited. At that point they expected the first unit would be completed in the early 2030s. In 2018, the UK SMR industry sought billions of pounds of government support to finance their putative First of a Kind projects. The Expert Finance Working Group on Small Reactors produced a report stating that there was "a current market failure in supporting nuclear projects generally" and identifying options for government to support SMR development in the UK. In 2020, it was reported that Rolls-Royce had plans to construct up to 16 SMRs in the UK. On 1 April 2022, the regulatory Generic Design Assessment of the Rolls-Royce SMR started. The assessment will begin once the timescales and resources have been agreed. In October 2022, Rolls-Royce announced that it was exploring eight possible sites in the UK to build the first of three expected factories for parts of the SMR.

Design

RR is preparing a

(SMR) design called the UK SMR, a close-coupled three-loop

pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) i ...

(PWR) design. Power output was initially designed to be 440MWe, and subsequently increased to 470MWe which is above the usual range considered to be a SMR. It should be able to power a city the size of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. The intended fuel is

uranium dioxide Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (), also known as urania or uranous oxide, is an oxide of uranium, and is a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite. It is used in nuclear fuel rods in nuclear re ...

(). A modular forced draft cooling tower will be used. The design targets a 500 day construction time, on a site. Overall build time is expected to be four years, two years for site preparation and two years for construction and commissioning. The target cost for a 470MWe Rolls-Royce SMR unit is £1.8billion for the fifth unit built, or around £3.8million per MWe. As a comparison the estimated cost for the full-size 3.3GWe

Sizewell C nuclear power station Sizewell C nuclear power station is a project to construct a 3,200MWe nuclear power station with two EPR reactors in Suffolk, England. The project was proposed by a consortium of EDF Energy and China General Nuclear Power Group, which own 80% ...

is £22billion, or around £6.7million per MWe.

References

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