US energy technology company Holtec has shortlisted South Yorkshire, the West Midlands, the Tees Valley and Cumbria for a £1.3bn small modular reactor (SMR) factory
Small modular reactors (SMR) have a lower capacity than large-scale nuclear plants and as a result are usually quicker and cheaper to build.
The modular design of SMRs also speeds up the construction process, as their parts can be created in the kind of factory Holtec Britain is hoping to build.
Great British Nuclear is currently running a competition to back the best design for SMRs, which the government hopes to start rolling out in the 2030s. Holtec’s SMR-300 is one of the six contestants.
Plans to rollout the SMR-300 are already underway
Regardless of the competition’s outcome, Holtec has already signed memoranda of understanding with Mott MacDonald, Balfour Beatty and Hyundai to advance the design and deployment of the SMR-300.
The planned SMR factory will manufacture the modules and are estimated to produce between two and four reactors annually, each worth £1-2bn.
Projected gross value added to the selected site and surrounding area ranges up to £1.5bn over 15 years, as well as creating thousands of jobs.
The factory will sustain around 400 jobs annually
Of the 13 Local Authorities that expressed an interest in hosting the new SMR factory, the four entrants that have made it to the final stage are South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, West Midlands Combined Authority, Tees Valley Combined Authority and Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.
Holtec senior adviser in the UK, Dame Julia King, said: “The impact on the local economy for the successful bidder will be game changing. The construction phase is anticipated to directly generate around 3,600 jobs, while the manufacturing operations will sustain up to 400 jobs annually.
“The UK target of net zero by 2050 is one we must meet. Nuclear will play an important role in meeting that target, in the UK and globally. The Holtec Small Modular Reactor offers safe, reliable and clean baseload capacity based on existing proven technology.”
The final location for Holtec’s SMR factory will be announced in the autumn of 2024.
