(Bloomberg) -- The UK named four companies, including a division of Rolls Royce Plc, to proceed to the next stage of a contest to build the country’s first small modular nuclear power plant, a potentially key technology for reaching net-zero emissions.
Small modular reactors are promoted by industry and the government as a way to generate clean nuclear power at a fraction of the cost and time required to build large-scale plants. The government is now deciding which technology to back for the country’s first small reactor.
In a process run by the government’s Great British Nuclear, the UK selected four out of five companies to proceed to the next stage. In addition to Rolls Royce, they include a collaboration between GE Vernova Inc. and Hitachi Ltd., Holtec Britain Ltd. and Westinghouse Electric Company UK Ltd.
The US-listed NuScale Power Corp. failed to advance to the next round, while Electricite de France SA previously pulled out of the competition.
Bidders will next be invited to start negotiating with Great British Nuclear. There’s not a clear time line for when the UK will finish negotiations and choose the winners. It’s expected that two companies will ultimately get to go ahead.
Hinkley Point C is the only major nuclear power plant under construction in Britain. The government is committed to building a copy of that plant and is trying to raise private money to get the Sizewell C project to a final investment decision. But beyond those projects, smaller reactors could be the future of nuclear power in Britain.
“Our manifesto made it clear that we support new nuclear, including at Sizewell, and we also support the SMR programme,” Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy security and net zero, said in Parliament earlier this year.
The next round of competition in the UK comes after Rolls Royce was selected by Czech power utility CEZ AS as a potential supplier of small modular reactors.
“Success in the UK will further strengthen our position as the leading SMR company and ensure the UK is able to capitalise on this transformational opportunity for the domestic supply chain,” Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive officer, said in a statement.
(Updates with detail on timing in fifth paragraph and details on Rolls Royce in last two paragraphs)
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