Move concludes two-year international competition process
Rolls-Royce SMR has been chosen as the preferred technology provider in the UK’s small modular reactor (SMR) competition, “marking a new golden age of nuclear in the UK,” a statement by the government said.
The decision, made by Great British Nuclear (GBN) after a two-year international selection process, means the UK’s next generation of nuclear power stations will be designed and built by a British company, said the statement.
“This is a day to celebrate a milestone achievement,” said Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive Chris Cholerton. “Deploying three of our units will drive domestic growth by creating thousands of highly skilled, well-paid jobs and supply chain opportunities.”
An announcement made earlier today, ahead of the governments expected Spending Review, said London is pledging over £2.5bn (€2.9bn, $2.3bn) for its overall SMR programme.
The government said the project can potentially support up to 3,000 new skilled jobs and power the equivalent of around 3 million homes.
The government also said state-owned GBN will be aiming to sign contracts with Rolls-Royce SMR later this year and form a development company. Site allocation is also expected later this year, while the in-service dates for the proposed SMR plants will be in the mid-2030s.
In February 2025, GBN invited four companies to submit final tenders for the SMR programme selection process. The companies were GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy International, Holtec Britain, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse Electric Company UK. Reports later said Westinghouse did not submit a final bid.
Rolls-Royce has said its SMR will be factory-built, enabling easier transportation, reduced completion risk and increased certainty on construction schedules. The plant will have an output of 470 MW.
The company has been selected by Czech utility ČEZ to deliver up to 3 GW of electricity in the Czech Republic and is a finalist in Sweden’s ongoing SMR competition.
The UK government is expected to begin commercial negotiations with Rolls-Royce SMR soon, while a regulatory review of the company's reactor technology is ongoing.
“The decision to select Rolls-Royce, in principle, chimes well with the government’s messaging on its industrial strategy: to invest in potentially high-growth sectors which will see investment and the creation of high-skill, high wage jobs in the UK,” said Jack Green-Morgan, senior political consultant for energy, utilities and net zero at Dods Political Intelligence in London.
“The risk is that the UK does not move fast enough,” Green-Morgan warned, adding that “the global race to develop SMRs is already heating up, with the US committing $900m to the technology, and so GBN will need to move fast with its new partner to select a site and stay on track to meet the target of connecting projects to the grid in the mid-2030s.”
The SMR final selection decision follows today’s announcement of a £14.2bn investment in the Sizewell C nuclear power station project in Suffolk.
