North Wales site chosen ahead of Oldbury in England for three Rolls-Royce reactors
The UK has chosen the island of Anglesey off the Welsh coast to host Britain’s first small modular reactors, designed by Rolls-Royce SMR, in a significant step forward for the industry.
In a statement the government said North Wales will become a beacon in the “golden age” of nuclear, delivering the UK’s first three SMRs at the Wylfa nuclear site in the north of the island, choosing it ahead of a rival site at Oldbury in Gloucestershire, southwest England.
The government also announced that Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N), the body overseeing new nuclear in the UK, has been tasked with identifying suitable sites that could potentially host new large-scale reactors.
GBE-N will report back by autumn 2026 on potential sites. The energy secretary, Ed Milliband, has requested this includes sites across the UK including Scotland, where the devolved Scottish National Party government is opposed to nuclear.
Any large-scale project would be similar in scale to the Hinkley Point C or Sizewell C projects, with the potential to power the equivalent of six million homes.
The Wylfa decision marks a major step forward for Britain’s nascent SMR industry, which the government hopes can help replace the UK’s fleet of large, ageing nuclear power plants. Nuclear currently supplies about 14% of the UK’s electricity.
Since 2000, the UK has seen permanent reactor shutdowns at Hinkley Point A, Bradwell, Calder Hall, Hunterston, Oldbury, Sizewell, Chapelcross, Dungeness and Wylfa, leaving nine units in commercial operation and only Hinkley Point C’s two EPRs under construction and plans confirmed for a further two EPRs at Sizewell C.
The government is backing Rolls-Royce, the FTSE-listed British engineering group, to roll out the first SMRs as part of a plan to make the UK a world leader in technology.
Proponents of SMRs argue that their smaller size and modular construction will allow them to be built with none of the cost overruns and delays that have dogged larger reactors.
While larger reactors provide nuclear energy on a gigawatt scale, their colossal scale means they are limited in terms of where they can be sited. SMRs use modular, offsite manufacturing and can be situated much more flexibly, in many more locations.
Decision ‘Rights The Wrongs’ Of Previous Failures
The government said the confirmation of Wylfa as the host site rights the wrongs of previous failure to bring new nuclear power to North Wales.
“Wylfa has a strong nuclear heritage dating back to the 1960s,” a statement said. “The first-of-its-kind project is expected to support up to 3,000 good jobs in the local community at peak construction, underpinned by billions of pounds of infrastructure investment out to the mid-2030s.”
In March 2024, GBE-N bought the Wylfa and Oldbury sites from Hitachi Ltd for £160m (€193m, $201m). Both sites house shut-down Magnox nuclear plants and had been intended for deployment of large Hitachi advanced boiling water reactor technology by the then Hitachi-subsidiary Horizon Nuclear Power.
However, the Horizon Wylfa project was abandoned by Hitachi in early 2019 on cost pressures and because of corporate concerns expressed by Hitachi in Japan over the deployment timeline for the planned large units. Hitachi wrote off £2.1bn in the process. Plans for Oldbury were dropped in 2020 and Horizon Nuclear was later wound up.
The government has pledged £2.5bn of funding for SMRs during this three-year spending period. The funding, which is still subject to a final agreement, involves support to help Rolls-Royce develop three 480-MW reactors for 1,440 MW of electricity generating capacity, enough for about 1.5 million homes.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said: “Britain was once a world-leader in nuclear power, but years of neglect and inertia has meant places like Anglesey have been let down and left behind.
“Today, that changes. We’re using all the tools in our armoury – cutting red tape, changing planning laws, and backing growth - to deliver the country’s first SMR in North Wales.”
First minister of Wales Eluned Morgan said: “This is the moment Ynys Môn [Anglesey] and the whole of Wales has been waiting for. New nuclear is a step into the future with secure jobs and secure energy guaranteed for the next generation.
‘First Step In 100-Year Commitment’
“We have been pressing the case at every opportunity for Wylfa’s incredible benefits as a site and I warmly welcome this major decision to invest in north West Wales. Wales is once again leading the way.”
The UK’s nuclear industry welcomed the news. Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the London-based Nuclear Industry Association, said bringing nuclear back to Wylfa is a historic moment for Wales and for the UK’s clean energy future.
“Wylfa’s revival offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver clean, reliable power for decades to come, create thousands of skilled jobs, attract major investment, and revitalise North Wales’s proud industrial heritage.”
Fiona Rayment, president of the Nuclear Institute, said: “We are pleased to see timely progress following the small modular reactor competition. Choosing Wylfa as the first site for SMR deployment is a positive step in building momentum to create new nuclear capacity across the UK.
“But it is only a step. The backdrop of global political challenges and the impacts of climate change mean nuclear power has never been more vital.”
Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive, said: “We are honoured to have the opportunity to establish our UK fleet programme with an initial three units at the Wylfa site. Today’s announcement marks the first step in what will be a 100-year commitment to clean energy, innovation, and community partnership at Wylfa.
He added: “This is a tremendous opportunity not just for North Wales but for the whole country, as we establish an enduring supply chain that will enable our fleet deployment in the UK and a large export programme, starting in Czechia.”
In July, Rolls-Royce SMR and Czech utility ČEZ signed an early works agreement enabling site-specific work to begin for a new SMR at the Temelín nuclear site.
Washington Expresses Disappointment
US ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens said Washington was “extremely disappointed by this decision not least because there are cheaper, faster, and already-approved options to provide clean, safe energy at this same location”.
Stephens said: “If you want to get shovels in the ground as soon as possible and take a big step in addressing energy prices and availability, there is a different path, and we look forward to decisions soon on large-scale nuclear projects.” His statement gave no details of alternatives proposed by the US.
“As I have repeatedly said, we want the UK to be the strongest possible ally to the United States, and high energy costs are an impediment to that,” Stephens added.
The Trump administration last month signed an $80bn (£61bn) deal with Westinghouse to build large reactors across the US. Under the terms of that deal, the Trump administration could end up taking a stake in the company.
Rolls-Royce SMR is planning to deploy its reactors in the UK and overseas. Courtesy Rolls-Royce SMR.
