WORLD: The UK SMR program has entered the negotiation phase with bidders. NuScale has been removed from the race
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Britain’s proposed Small Modular Reactor (SMR) program has entered the negotiation phase, with four companies remaining in the running to supply SMR technology: GE Hitachi, Holtec, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse, according to Enerdata.
GE Hitachi offers the BWRX-300, a hot water reactor, while Holtec, Rolls-Royce and Westinghouse offer various pressurized water reactors ranging from 300 MWe to 470 MWe.
Six companies were initially shortlisted by Great British Nuclear (GBN), the body overseeing the process, but EDF and NuScale were eliminated.
The remaining companies will now enter into formal negotiations with GBN. Each of the four companies has advanced designs based on existing nuclear technologies, with an emphasis on modular manufacturing to speed up construction.
The objective is to select two or three companies by the end of 2024 to co-fund their technologies to completion, with a final investment decision (FID) anticipated in 2029.
The British from Rolls Royce were recently appointed by the Czech Republic as technology suppliers for the construction of several SMR nuclear power plants in the country, following a competitive procedure in which NuScale also participated.
NuScale technology is used for the project of the possible SMR nuclear power plant that the Romanian joint venture RoPower Nuclear wants to build in Doicești.
