After years of preparation, Rolls-Royce is taking the next step in building mini-nuclear reactors.

Since 2015 the British industrial group has been developing “Small Modular Reactors” (SMR), which are being researched in numerous countries around the world.

Rolls-Royce has now presented new designs with a consortium.

You have increased the capacity of the SMR systems from 440 to 470 megawatts of power without increasing costs.

This corresponds to about a third of the output of conventional large power plants.

Rolls-Royce intends to submit the plans to the relevant state supervisory authority in the second half of the year, which must be approved.

According to the industrial group, the first systems could be completed and connected to the grid at the beginning of the next decade.

Philip Plickert

Business correspondent based in London.

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    Rolls-Royce is planning ten small nuclear power plants on the island by 2035. Little by little, modern small power plants could be built at all sixteen current or previous nuclear sites in Great Britain. “Nuclear energy is central to tackling the problem of climate change,” advertises Tom Samson, CEO of the UK SMR consortium. In addition to Rolls-Royce, it includes other industrial companies such as Jacobs, the construction groups BAM Nuttall and Laing O'Rourke, as well as the state-run National Nuclear Laboratory and other research institutions. They are convinced that the new technology is safer and cheaper than previous nuclear facilities. And nuclear power is reliable. It does not fluctuate like electricity generated from renewable energies such as wind and solar.

    Boris Johnson's Conservative government supports SMR technology.

    Johnson explicitly mentioned them in his 10-point plan for a "Green Industrial Revolution" and provides funding of more than 200 million pounds (230 million euros).

    The Rolls-Royce consortium is looking for investors, a total of £ 300 million is needed for the next phase.

    According to the company, the cost of building the plants could fall well below £ 2 billion per power plant in the event of a subsequent series production.

    Much cheaper than conventional large reactors

    According to calculations by the UK SMR consortium, the electricity generation costs should be around 50 pounds per megawatt hour, which is comparable to the cheapest electricity from wind farms off the coast. Rolls-Royce, whose aircraft turbine business is currently badly hit by the Corona crisis, is also promising new jobs in Great Britain with the new energy projects. There are already advance agreements for the export of plants to countries such as the Czech Republic, Estonia and Turkey.

    According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), around fifty research and development projects on small or mini reactors are ongoing in numerous countries around the world. The IAEA defines SMR as small reactors with an output of up to 300 megawatts. She sees this as a useful further development. In contrast, nuclear opponents warn against SMRs, they cite doubts about safety and the problem of disposal. The IAEA sees it differently and considers the latest generation of power plants to be very safe. Another plus point is the flexibility.

    Apart from that, IAEA experts see the cost savings as an advantage.

    The technically less complex small reactors, which could be mass-produced and pre-assembled in factories and assembled on site, should be much cheaper than conventional large-scale reactors.

    Their costs often get out of hand, for example with the new reactor block in Flamanville in Normandy.

    The major British project Hinkley Point C with an output of 2,300 megawatts will also be significantly more expensive than planned at 22 to 23 billion pounds.

    Hinkley Point C is heavily subsidized by the government.

    If the Rolls-Royce figures are correct, the SMR could generate the same performance at half the construction price.

    Projects all over the world 

    The approximately fifty SMR projects around the world are in different stages of development. You are furthest in Argentina, China and Russia. In Siberia, a mini-reactor on a ship that supplies a small town with electricity has even gone into operation on a trial basis. Construction projects in Argentina and China are expected to be completed in the next three years. In America, President Joe Biden has spoken out in favor of pursuing the construction of small nuclear power plants in addition to the expansion of renewable energies. Both the ruling Democrats and Republicans support nuclear energy.

    In Great Britain, too, there is a bipartisan consensus between the Tories and Labor that to achieve the ambitious climate policy and emissions reduction, low-carbon nuclear power will also be necessary. Only a small proportion of the population on the island is nuclear-critical. Unlike Germany, which will take the last nuclear power plants off the grid in 2022, Great Britain is even planning to expand it. In addition to Hinkley Point, other projects are being planned, for example in Sizewell on the east coast of England. The British nuclear strategy recently suffered a setback with the exit of the Japanese company Hitachi. He gives up his stake in the planned Wylfa nuclear power plant in Wales.

    There are 440 nuclear reactors in operation worldwide. They generate around 10 percent of the electricity that is consumed globally. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that a quick phase-out of nuclear power would jeopardize the CO2 reduction targets. Nuclear energy is the second most important power generation source globally after hydropower. However, many nuclear reactors are old. In the UK, which covers nearly 20 percent of its electricity needs with nuclear energy, all fifteen current nuclear power plants were built over thirty years ago and should be replaced in the next decade. This is exactly why Rolls-Royce is warming up with the small power plants.