470 MW of power: Rolls-Royce’s small nuclear reactor wins 2nd approval

Rolls-Royce’s 470 megawatts electric (MWe) small modular reactor design has passed the second stage of generic design assessment, according to the Environment Agency, Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), and Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

The ONR and NRW made the announcement on Tuesday, regarding the small modular reactor progressing to stage three of the assessment.

Generic design assessment (GDA) is carried out to ensure that the new nuclear power stations will meet high standards of safety, security, environmental protection, and waste management.

It also provides the company, in this case Rolls-Royce SMR, with the means to reduce overall project risks and gain increasing levels of regulatory confidence in their design before site-specific proposals are brought forward.

Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor

The second step of assessment under GDA for Rolls-Royce’s 470 MWe small modular reactor design began in April 2023, according to a release by the UK’s Environment Agency.

Interestingly, this is the first time that a project design has cleared the step two of the GDA process since it was launched.

“Step 2 is the first substantive technical assessment step of GDA, building upon the work to agree the scope and project arrangements undertaken during Step 1,” the release stated.

With this, the step three of the GDA has begun for Rolls-Royce’s small modular nuclear reactor.

The regulator also said that the company had met all requirements which it was asked to during the process.

Saffron Price-Finnerty, the Environment Agency’s New Reactors Program Manager, said , “We’re pleased to announce that following a great deal of hard work from all parties, we have successfully completed Step 2, the fundamental assessment of the Rolls-Royce SMR design while meeting the company’s program timescales.”

“We have not currently identified any significant issues or concerns with the design and Rolls-Royce SMR Limited has been able to demonstrate that environmental protection and radioactive waste management are key areas of focus for its developing design.”

Moreover, he mentioned that during step three a detailed assessment of the project will be carried out. It will also involve consultations with the public and other stakeholders regarding the acceptability of the design.

Britain’s push for nuclear power

Back in January 2024, the UK government had announced an investment of $382.79 million (300 million GBP) for domestic production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), for fueling smaller nuclear reactors.

The country has been pushing for nuclear power to reach its target of 24 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2050, or a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs.

Moreover, even with a change in government at the center the push for small modular reactor deployment doesn’t seem to be waning.

There are already multiple projects being discussed for boosting the production of nuclear energy in the UK.

Rolls-Royce SMR is a low-cost clean energy solution that promises to use commercially available technology to deliver a fully integrated, factory built nuclear power plant.

The company says that its SMR model is fully scalable, and as the demand increases Rolls-Royce will invest in further factories using the same design and management systems.