Rolls-Royce Holdings has raised 455 million pounds ($615 million) to develop a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) in the UK. The company said the move is critical to helping the UK reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The British government has donated 210 million pounds for the project. The aerospace and defense company can now focus on obtaining approval for its reactor design and determining the manufacturing location of the parts needed to build the plant.

The development of the UK nuclear energy industry

The British government stated that it believes that nuclear power is the best way to supplement wind power and other renewable energy generation. Wind power may be intermittent and eliminate fossil fuels from power plants by 2035. The British Secretary of Commerce Kwasi Kwarteng said: "Small modular reactors provide opportunities to reduce costs and speed up construction, ensuring that we can provide clean electricity to homes and further reduce the use of volatile fossil fuels." As the British government announced in the expenditure review In that case, the Ministry of Finance will allocate 1.7 billion pounds to propose a final investment decision for at least one large nuclear project, most likely EDF’s Sizewell C. Compared with large traditional power stations that have been in use for decades, small modular reactors and Advanced modular reactors may be cheaper and faster to build.

By 2050, companies headed by Rolls-Royce Holdings are building 16 small reactors. Its chief executive Tom Samson (TomSamson) said that the plan will "provide a low-cost, deployable, scalable and investable new nuclear power plant program" to help the UK achieve its goals at the forefront of the Cop26 climate conference. Rolls-Royce estimates that the project can create up to 40,000 jobs through the establishment and export-driven growth in the UK.

Before the announcement, three former Conservative energy ministers gathered together and stated that the current UN Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow needs to accept that nuclear and hydrogen energy play a greater role in the global energy structure with net zero emissions. fact. The British Ministry of Commerce, Energy and Industrial Strategy stated that the 210 million pounds invested in SMR will be used to advance the second phase of its low-cost nuclear project. It is part of the £385 million Advanced Nuclear Fund, which was announced last year in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's so-called "Green Industrial Revolution" plan. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

Rolls-Royce estimates that every SMR it builds can power 1 million homes. Its chief scientist, Dr. DougParr, said these reactors are more expensive than renewable energy sources and there is no coordinated plan to dispose of radioactive waste. Mike Childs, the head of Friends of the Earth policy, agreed that the government should focus on “renewable resources such as offshore wind, tide, and solar energy, and take measures to help residents reduce energy waste.”Editor/XingWentao