Britain on Tuesday opened a competition to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMR), such as those being developed by Rolls-Royce, as it launched its new Great British Nuclear Agency to help drive the expansion of projects.
The country is aiming to increase its nuclear power capacity to 24 gigawatts by 2050 as part of efforts to meet climate targets and boost energy security, Construction-europe.com reported.
That would meet around a quarter of projected electricity demand, up sharply from about 14% at present.
Large new nuclear projects, with high upfront costs, have struggled to attract financing and the government hopes some older plants could be replaced by a fleet of SMRs that could be made in factories, at lower costs and faster construction.
Companies can, from Tuesday, register their interest in the government’s SMR competition. The Great British Nuclear Agency, also launched on Tuesday, will select technologies that have met the criteria in autumn.
The competition "could result in billions of pounds of public and private sector investment," Britain’s Secretary of State for Energy Security Grant Shapps said.
Companies selected will then start discussions as part of an invitation to negotiate phase, the government said.
