Rolls-Royce mini nuclear plant meets basic requirements of supervisory authority

Rolls-Royce has come a little closer to its goal of becoming the first manufacturer in the UK to build a Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Following a 16-month second Generic Design Assessment (GDA), the British manufacturer's concept for a modular nuclear power plant with an electrical output of 470 MW meets the basic requirements for safety and environmental protection, according to the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

The ONR examines concepts such as Rolls-Royce's together with the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in the three-step process known as GDA. In the first, the scope of the project is reviewed and further action agreed. In the second step, planned protection and safety measures are examined before details are considered in the third and final step. The public can provide input until the regulators finally approve the design. The ONR estimates that step 3 will take 29 months.

Rolls-Royce made its plan public at the end of 2021 to bring its first SMR online in the UK in the early 2030s. In April 2022, the ONR began the first stage of the regulatory assessment of the Rolls-Royce concept. In the second step, which has now been completed, it says it has reviewed 900 submissions.

Further SMRs under review

The British manufacturer is not the only one whose SMR concept is being examined by the ONR. In January of this year, it accepted the GDA for the BWRX300 reactor from GE Hitachi, and in December for the SMR-300 from Holtec International. Rolls-Royce is therefore ahead of these competitors.

Earlier ONR assessments went through EDF/Areva's EPR reactor design by 2012 – a UK reactor of this type is currently under construction at Hinkley Point – Westinghouse's AP1000 by March 2017, Hitachi GE's ABWR by December 2017 and the HPR1000 from domestic manufacturer General Nuclear System Limited.

The British government is planning to expand the country's electricity generation capacity from the current 6 GW to 24 GW by 2050. According to its roadmap, the construction of nuclear power plants with a capacity of up to 7 GW is to begin every five years from 2030. In January of this year, it became known that the Hinkley Point C EPR will be considerably more expensive than planned.

(anw)