Just 50 miles along the coast from Liverpool city region Rolls Royce is to start work on a multi-billion pound project to build three small modular nuclear reactors to power up to 3m homes. Tony McDonough reports
Work is to start on a project to build three small modular reactors (SMRs) in Anglesey that will start generating nuclear energy for up to 3m homes by the mid-2030s.
Late in 2025 the Government committed £2.6bn to the project. Now the National Wealth Fund has agreed to provide a £599m facility to support the finalisation of the generic design of the Rolls-Royce SMR.
If all goes to plan the company will build three SMRs, each able to provide power for up to 1m homes, at the former Wylfa nuclear site in Anglesey in North Wales.
Much has been said and written about SMRs for several years and they have almost become something of a unicorn. But this is the first time the Government has said to Rolls Royce “here is the money, go and build them”.
However, it would be premature to imagine there will be spades in the ground tomorrow. Full approval of the company’s design is not expected until December 2026 at the earliest.
After that the project will need to secure licensing from the Office for Nuclear Regulation, environmental permits and planning consent. This is traditionally where complex schemes just as this can get stuck in the mud.
Sceptics also point out that the SMR model remains new and unproven at commercial scale. This project comes with a steep learning curve and engineering challenges and cost overruns are likely.
Total project cost is likely to far exceed the Government’s initial £2.6bn commitment. How much more the Government will commit and how much may need to be raised in private financing won’t be known until closer to 2030.
It is claimed Rolls-Royce SMR and its supply chain partners will create 3,000 jobs local to the Wylfa site and an additional 5,000 jobs nationally. Some of that work could come to Liverpool city region.
As part of the UK’s Government’s Project Faith, Cammell Laird in Birkenhead utilised its part of its giant shipyard to the design, manufacture and installation of a new thermal hydraulic test rig to be used as a model for testing nuclear modular construction techniques.
SMRs utilise a modular, factory-built approach rather than traditional construction methods. This can, in theory, shorten the time it takes to build them.
Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive, said: “This contract unlocks the delivery of our first three units at Wylfa and is a tangible example of the Government’s ‘golden age’ of new nuclear being delivered successfully with British technology.
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“This brings certainty to the UK SMR programme and differentiates our business as the only SMR company with multiple commitments in Europe – an initial three units at Wylfa and up to six units in Czechia.
“We are transforming the way nuclear projects are delivered, to give greater cost and schedule certainty with a standardised, factory-built approach. This project is important to the UK’s energy security and will power up our business and the UK supply chain.”