16 Mar (NucNet): The UK government has announced a competition to identify the “best value” small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) in the UK – paving the way for the country to build one of the world’s first SMRs.
The government said in a policy statement, presented to parliament today by Chancellor George Osborne, that the competition will generate a list of SMR developers that could “deliver on the government’s objectives”.
The government said it will also publish an SMR delivery roadmap later this year and will allocate at least £30m ($42m, €38m) for an “SMR-enabling advanced manufacturing R&D programme” to develop nuclear skills capacity.
In November 2015 the government announced that the UK would double funding for the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s energy innovation programme to £500m over five years, which will help pay for an ambitious nuclear research programme that will revive the country’s nuclear expertise and help turn it into a leader in SMR technology.
At the time Mr Osborne said the investment would strengthen future security of supply, reduce the costs of decarbonisation and boost industrial and research capabilities.
In January 2016 Fluor Corporation’s NuScale unit, which is seeking to be a pioneer in the SMR market, said the UK’s ambitions to build SMRs could be realised as soon as 2025.
Westinghouse Electric Company said earlier this month it is working with the UK’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to explore the most effective way to manufacture Westinghouse SMR pressure vessels in the UK.
In October 2015 Westinghouse said it had asked to work in partnership with the UK government on the deployment of SMR technology, a move the US-based company said would advance the UK from being “a buyer to a global provider” of the latest nuclear energy technology.
Westinghouse, part of the Toshiba group, said it had already presented the UK with a proposal intended to complement phase two of a study being carried out by the government into the viability of SMRs.
The London-based Nuclear Industry Association welcomed today’s announcement. Chief executive Tom Greatrex said SMRs could potentially play “a significant complementary role to the UK’s existing new build programme” and it is welcome that the government is looking seriously at the development of SMRs.
He said: “It is important that the roadmap the Chancellor has promised by the autumn maximises the opportunities for UK industry.”
