The potential of the small modular reactor

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The potential of the small modular reactor

With the threat of the global climate crisis creating unprecedented urgency, the UK has set the ambitious target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To achieve this, we must enable a transition to cleaner, greener, zero-emission energy on a large scale and within a short time frame.

But for a solution to be embraced on a national scale, it must also be reliable, deliverable and economically prosperous. The small modular reactor (SMR) could provide such a solution.

Delivering low-cost, clean energy

Deploying a fleet of Rolls-Royce SMRs could deliver consumers in the UK large cost savings on electricity, making SMR-produced power a more reliable competitor to wind and solar power and providing the opportunity for continued cost reduction over time.

In fact, it could provide a unique opportunity to not only deliver enough clean energy to power entire towns and cities but could create a vital economic boost.

The Rolls-Royce SMR

That’s why we’ve established the Rolls-Royce SMR business. Bringing together global heritage and expertise in nuclear technologies for energy generation and engineering, we hope to offer a reliable, sustainable, low-cost and scalable product, that can be rolled out around the world.

The Rolls-Royce SMR business demonstrates a ground-breaking approach to sustainable nuclear power, delivering an entirely factory-built nuclear power plant that would be transported as modules and assembled on-site, radically reducing construction activity and making the SMR a commodifiable product.

A unique approach

The production itself will utilise commercially available, off-the-shelf components from within the UK supply chain, injecting revenue back into the British economy and avoiding high-risk, complex construction principles.

According to Paul Stein, Chairman of Rolls-Royce SMR, “The UK SMR heralds a new approach to the cost of nuclear power by broadly rethinking the manufacturing and construction methods and by the extensive use of digital twinning whilst keeping the physics package exactly the same. This is a pressurised water reactor of a type we know and love.”

Small but powerful

Despite only taking up one-tenth of the space of a conventional nuclear power plant, the SMR promises to power up to one million homes, delivering a powerful, ‘always on’ solution, as well as generating 40,000 jobs by 2050 and generating £52 billion in economic benefit.

It would support both on-grid electricity and off-grid clean energy solutions, decarbonising industrial processes and enabling the production of clean fuels like sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) and green hydrogen. Both of which would further support the energy transition in the wider heat and transportation sectors.

A wise investment

Overall, the Rolls-Royce SMR will have the capacity to generate 470mw of low-carbon energy – the equivalent of more than 150 onshore wind turbines – for at least 60 years, helping to support the roll-out of renewable generation.

As part of the UK Government’s ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’, £210 million of UK Research and Innovation funding has already gone towards realising the SMR vision for a cleaner and more sustainable future.

In the long term, the SMR will provide investors and lenders with a degree of confidence that will enable future customers to access a range of capital options.

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