UK Enters Final Stage of Contest for Next-Generation Reactors

(Bloomberg) -- The UK entered the final stage of a process to select small modular reactor technologies that may be key to the country’s net zero goals.

Winning bidders will be chosen in spring, bringing an end to a contest that was meant to be finished by the end of last year, according to the government’s Great British Nuclear body. The shortlist of four finalists includes a division of Rolls-Royce Plc and a collaboration between GE Vernova Inc. and Hitachi Ltd.

“Small modular reactors will support our mission to become a clean energy superpower,” Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband said in a statement. “We are backing new nuclear technology to help secure our energy independence and grow the economy.”

So-called SMRs are promoted by government and industry as a way to provide climate-friendly nuclear power more cheaply and quickly than traditional large-scale reactors, which can take many years to build. But the technology is untested and it’s unclear whether it will be able to deliver promised benefits. 

Any major development would also likely need government support at a time when the UK Treasury has many big projects across the country that need state backing. Great British Nuclear owns land that could host a new nuclear plant in Wales and in Gloucestershire, England.

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