The British manufacturer wants to feed the first electricity from small modular reactors into the power grid in 2029.
A digital mock-up of a Rolls-Royce small modular reactor. Photograph: Rolls Royce/Studio Archetype
Rolls Royce has started building components for its planned mini-nuclear power plants, reports the British Guardian. The company expects to get approval for the construction of such systems from the British authorities by 2024, the newspaper quoted Paul Stein, head of the Rolls-Royce SMR division.
“The process has been kicked off, and will likely be complete in the middle of 2024. We are trying to work with the UK government, and others to get going now placing orders, so we can get power on grid by 2029.”
Manufacturing such Small Modular Reactors (SMR), based on reactors used in nuclear submarines, can be far cheaper and faster than building conventional nuclear power plants. The systems can be assembled in factories in a short time and transported to their locations ready for operation. A system should require the area of 2 soccer fields and be able to supply one million households.
In order to achieve the climate goals and reduce dependence on Russian gas, the British government is focusing primarily on nuclear power and is subsidizing the company's small nuclear power plants with 210 million pounds (around 250 million euros).
Rolls Royce wants to create up to 40,000 jobs in the next few years with the manufacture and export of such modular nuclear power plants.
Mini nuclear power plants are also being worked on elsewhere, for example by the US company Westinghouse. Bill Gates is also investing in nuclear power. Together with the energy company PacifiCorp, his company Terrapower wants to build a small, sodium-cooled nuclear power plant in the USA.
What are your thoughts?
Is the return to constructing nuclear power plants the right way to solve upcoming challenges of power supply?
Yes, it's cheap and clean electricity. But is it worth the risk of nuclear accidents and stacking up radioactive waste?