28 Jan (NucNet): Rolls-Royce and its partners are asking the UK government for more than £200m in funding to develop a business that will build small modular nuclear reactors, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The company is seeking a sum “in the low hundreds of millions,” the FT said on Sunday, citing a person familiar with the request.
The UK is reconsidering its plans to build new plants after Hitachi recently said it had halted plans for the Wylfa Newydd nuclear station and last year Toshiba shelved a project to build new nuclear at Moorside in Cumbria.
Rolls-Royce confirmed to the Financial Times that its consortium was “in discussions with UK government officials that we hope could result in a significant joint investment in our power plant design.”
In July the Financial Times reported that Rolls-Royce was preparing to shut down its project to develop SMRs if the government does not make a long-term commitment to the technology, including financial support.
According to the newspaper, the UK aero-engine maker scaled back investment significantly, from several millions to simply paying for “a handful of salaries”.
