Winning consortium also includes Laing O’Rourke and Bam Nuttall
A Rolls-Royce team has been named preferred bidder to build the UK’s first small modular reactors (SMRs).
The consortium also includes Laing O’Rourke, Bam Nuttall and Jacobs with the group now working with publicly-owned Great British Energy Nuclear to develop the SMRs.
The Rolls team beat pitches from overseas rivals including US firm Holtec, whose team included Balfour Beatty and Mott MacDonald, and a bid from GE Hitachi.
Rolls-Royce is hoping to sign a deal with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) later this year and form a development company for the work.
The government has pledged to spend £2.5bn on SMRs as part of its industrial strategy to be published this summer.
DESNZ said the project could create 3,000 construction jobs and power around three million homes with the first SMRs up and running by the early 2030s..
SMRs are smaller nuclear reactors built in factories using modular methods and then installed onsite. They can be built with lower upfront costs and shorter construction times than conventional reactors, with supporters arguing they also offer greater safety features and scalability.
The announcement follows the government this morning pledging £14.2bn to build a new nuclear power plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk.
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