Rolls-Royce, the British luxury carmaker, has received £405 million in funding from the private sector and the UK government to build small modular nuclear reactors in the coming years to provide low-cost, low-carbon energy.
The Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) will receive £195 million in funding from Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited, and Exelon Generation Limited, as well as £210 million from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) over the next three years, according to the Sussex-based carmaker.
The public-private alliance will be in charge of designing Rolls-SMRs. Royce’s It will also guide the newly-formed company through regulatory procedures to see if the SMRs it develops are viable for deployment across the United Kingdom.
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It will also identify potential locations for SMRs in the UK. Because nuclear technology generates 16 percent of the UK’s total electricity and the majority of nuclear power stations are in the north, the conglomerate’s investment will be focused there.
The Rolls-Royce Group will be the largest shareholder in the Rolls-Royce SMR, which aims to create at least 40,000 jobs across a wide range of industries across the United Kingdom.
About Small Modular Reactors
SMRs are modernized nuclear reactors that can generate a huge amount of power at a low cost and with low carbon emissions. They have a generating capacity of 300-450 MW, which is nearly one-third that of standard nuclear power reactors.
Aside from generating low-cost, low-carbon electricity, they provide a number of other advantages, owing to their smaller, modular design compared to traditional nuclear power reactors.
SMRs can be built quickly in sites that aren’t suited for larger nuclear power plants, allowing rural areas to be electrified despite issues like inadequate transmission lines and grid capacity.
SMR-based nuclear power facilities, unlike standard nuclear power plants that needs refueling every 1-2 years, requires refilling every 3-7 years. Some SMR nuclear power stations could run for up to 30 years without needing to be refueled.
In Argentina, Canada, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States, more than 70 commercial SMRs are being developed or are in the licencing stage.
