The Great British Energy – Nuclear, formerly known as Great British Nuclear, has chosen Rolls-Royce SMR as its small modular reactor vendor for its upcoming nuclear projects.
GBE-N, a nuclear energy and fuel company owned by the United Kingdom government, has pledged over £2.5 billion ($3.4 billion US$) for a small modular reactor program, according to its Tuesday press release. The project plans to support 3,000 jobs and power around 3 million homes with electricity.
Rolls-Royce SMR, a U.K. subsidiary to Rolls-Royce Holdings, was selected after a two-year selection process. The U.K. government-owned company intends to sign contracts with Rolls-Royce SMR later this year and will form a development company.
The U.K. SMR company beat out GE Hitachi Vernova, Holtec and Westinghouse in its competition to be the SMR vendor, according to GBE-N.
The result of the competition was the first step towards reducing costs and securing private funding, helping the U.K. realize its long-term ambition of delivering one of Europe’s first SMR fleets, GBE-N said.
Rolls-Royce SMR is in the final stage of its assessment by the U.K. nuclear industry’s independent regulators.
In October 2024, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by Czech utility ČEZ to deliver up to 3 gigawatts of electricity in the Czech Republic.
