News: Rolls-Royce secures funding for SMR development, Nuclear AMRC ready to make it a reality
The Nuclear AMRC will work with Rolls-Royce on the next phase of its small modular reactor (SMR) development programme, and help prepare critical components for commercial production in the UK.
With state of the art facilities on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, The Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) is a joint initiative with industry and part of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult that is designed to help build and enhance the UK's civil nuclear new build industry.
This week Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited announced that it would invest £195m across a period of around three years in the SMR project. The funding will enable the business to secure Government grant funding of £210m from UK Research and Innovation funding.
The Nuclear AMRC in Rotherham hosted business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng MP, the Rolls-Royce SMR team and investors for the launch of the next phase of development.
SMRs promise to be much more affordable in the UK than the large scale reactors planned for projects like Hinkley Point C.
The business, which will continue to seek further investment, will now proceed rapidly with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and identifying sites for the factories which will manufacture the modules that enable on-site assembly of the power plants.
The University of Sheffield’s Nuclear AMRC will work with Rolls-Royce SMR to develop the manufacturing capability for a variety of advanced processes, using the state-of-the-art machining, joining and testing facilities of the Nuclear AMRC’s research factory in Rotherham. The centre will also support the design of a new UK factory for large SMR components.
Following this process development, the Nuclear AMRC will continue to work with Rolls-Royce to create a fully integrated pre-production proving facility for SMR manufacturing. The proving facility will be used to manufacture large-scale prototypes of the reactor pressure vessel and its closure head.
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Andrew Storer, CEO of the Nuclear AMRC, says: “The Rolls-Royce SMR can play a huge part in the UK’s journey to net zero emissions. Because it’s designed in the UK and will be manufactured here, it can also help drive the economic revival of our industrial heartlands. As a small factory-built reactor, it’s a much better fit for the current capabilities of the UK nuclear supply chain, which will help us maximise the economic benefits of the energy transition.
“Our task now is to apply the advanced manufacturing technologies that we’ve been developing at the Nuclear AMRC over the past decade, and ensure that as much of the SMR as possible can be made in UK factories, as cost-effectively as possible while meeting all the quality and safety standards expected by nuclear customers and regulators. We’re delighted to play a part in this genuinely world-leading technology development project.”
Nine-tenths of an individual Rolls-Royce SMR power plant will be built or assembled in factory conditions and around 80% could be delivered by a UK supply chain – a unique offering in energy infrastructure in the UK. Much of the venture’s investment is expected to be focused in the North of the UK, where there is significant existing nuclear expertise.
Rolls-Royce acquired land on the AMP in Rotherham for manufacturing facilities. The £110m Advanced Blade Casting Facility is operational but approved plans for a manufacturing facility for large scale nuclear components stalled as the interest in new large scale nuclear power stations cooled.
The entire SMR plant is being designed as a number of modular sub-assemblies which will be manufactured in factories then transported to site for rapid assembly inside a weatherproof canopy. That will cut costs and project risks by avoiding weather disruption, and also secure efficiency savings by using streamlined and standardised manufacturing processes for all its components.
Warren East, Rolls-Royce CEO adds, “the SMR programme is one of the ways that Rolls-Royce is meeting the need to ensure the UK continues to develop innovative ways to tackle the global threat of climate change. With the Rolls-Royce SMR technology, we have developed a clean energy solution which can deliver cost competitive and scalable net zero power for multiple applications from grid and industrial electricity production to hydrogen and synthetic fuel manufacturing. The business could create up to 40,000 jobs, through UK deployment and export enabled growth. As a major shareholder in Rolls-Royce SMR, we will continue to support its path to successful deployment.”
Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the UK to deploy more low carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence. Small Modular Reactors offer exciting opportunities to cut costs and build more quickly, ensuring we can bring clean electricity to people’s homes and cut our already-dwindling use of volatile fossil fuels even further. In working with Rolls-Royce, we are proud to back the largest engineering collaboration the UK has ever seen - uniting some of the most respected and innovating organisations on the planet. Not only can we maximise British content, create new intellectual property and reinvigorate supply chains, but also position our country as a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies we can potentially export elsewhere. By harnessing British engineering and ingenuity, we can double down on our plan to deploy more home-grown, affordable clean energy in this country.”
Rolls-Royce website
Nuclear AMRC website
Images: Rolls-Royce / Nuclear AMRC
With state of the art facilities on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, The Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) is a joint initiative with industry and part of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult that is designed to help build and enhance the UK's civil nuclear new build industry.
This week Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited announced that it would invest £195m across a period of around three years in the SMR project. The funding will enable the business to secure Government grant funding of £210m from UK Research and Innovation funding.
The Nuclear AMRC in Rotherham hosted business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng MP, the Rolls-Royce SMR team and investors for the launch of the next phase of development.
SMRs promise to be much more affordable in the UK than the large scale reactors planned for projects like Hinkley Point C.
The business, which will continue to seek further investment, will now proceed rapidly with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and identifying sites for the factories which will manufacture the modules that enable on-site assembly of the power plants.
The University of Sheffield’s Nuclear AMRC will work with Rolls-Royce SMR to develop the manufacturing capability for a variety of advanced processes, using the state-of-the-art machining, joining and testing facilities of the Nuclear AMRC’s research factory in Rotherham. The centre will also support the design of a new UK factory for large SMR components.
Following this process development, the Nuclear AMRC will continue to work with Rolls-Royce to create a fully integrated pre-production proving facility for SMR manufacturing. The proving facility will be used to manufacture large-scale prototypes of the reactor pressure vessel and its closure head.
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Andrew Storer, CEO of the Nuclear AMRC, says: “The Rolls-Royce SMR can play a huge part in the UK’s journey to net zero emissions. Because it’s designed in the UK and will be manufactured here, it can also help drive the economic revival of our industrial heartlands. As a small factory-built reactor, it’s a much better fit for the current capabilities of the UK nuclear supply chain, which will help us maximise the economic benefits of the energy transition.
“Our task now is to apply the advanced manufacturing technologies that we’ve been developing at the Nuclear AMRC over the past decade, and ensure that as much of the SMR as possible can be made in UK factories, as cost-effectively as possible while meeting all the quality and safety standards expected by nuclear customers and regulators. We’re delighted to play a part in this genuinely world-leading technology development project.”
Nine-tenths of an individual Rolls-Royce SMR power plant will be built or assembled in factory conditions and around 80% could be delivered by a UK supply chain – a unique offering in energy infrastructure in the UK. Much of the venture’s investment is expected to be focused in the North of the UK, where there is significant existing nuclear expertise.
Rolls-Royce acquired land on the AMP in Rotherham for manufacturing facilities. The £110m Advanced Blade Casting Facility is operational but approved plans for a manufacturing facility for large scale nuclear components stalled as the interest in new large scale nuclear power stations cooled.
The entire SMR plant is being designed as a number of modular sub-assemblies which will be manufactured in factories then transported to site for rapid assembly inside a weatherproof canopy. That will cut costs and project risks by avoiding weather disruption, and also secure efficiency savings by using streamlined and standardised manufacturing processes for all its components.
Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the UK to deploy more low carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence. Small Modular Reactors offer exciting opportunities to cut costs and build more quickly, ensuring we can bring clean electricity to people’s homes and cut our already-dwindling use of volatile fossil fuels even further. In working with Rolls-Royce, we are proud to back the largest engineering collaboration the UK has ever seen - uniting some of the most respected and innovating organisations on the planet. Not only can we maximise British content, create new intellectual property and reinvigorate supply chains, but also position our country as a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies we can potentially export elsewhere. By harnessing British engineering and ingenuity, we can double down on our plan to deploy more home-grown, affordable clean energy in this country.”
Rolls-Royce website
Nuclear AMRC website
Images: Rolls-Royce / Nuclear AMRC
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