Rolls-Royce SMR is setting up multi-million pound facility to produce prototype modules

Rolls-Royce SMR is setting up a £multi-million facility in Sheffield, UK, to manufacture and test prototype modules for its small modular reactors (SMRs). 

The Rolls-Royce SMR Module Development Facility - housed within University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s existing Factory 2050 facilities - will produce working prototypes of the individual modules that will be assembled into Rolls-Royce SMR power plants. 

The first phase, announced today, is worth £2.7 million and will be part of a wider £15+ million package of work that will further de-risk and underpin the Rolls-Royce SMR programme. The modular approach is unique within the nuclear industry but is widely used and well proven across the oil and gas and renewables sectors. 

The Rolls-Royce SMR is UK’s first home-grown nuclear technology for over a generation and today’s announcement is another vital step towards deploying a fleet of ‘factory-built’ nuclear power plants in the UK and around the globe. 

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, said: “Small Modular Reactors are the future of nuclear technology, and key to quadrupling the UK’s nuclear capacity by 2050 as part of the biggest expansion in 70 years.” 

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “South Yorkshire is proud to be the home of the largest Clean Tech cluster in the UK, with specialisms in nuclear tech, hydrogen and aviation fuels. Being chosen as the home of the new Rolls-Royce SMR Module Development Facility further enhances our region’s reputation as the best place for Clean Tech in the UK and puts us at the forefront of creating a greener future for the UK and beyond.” 

Rolls-Royce SMR offers a radically different approach to delivering new nuclear power based on proven technology. Each of the factory-built nuclear power stations will provide enough low-carbon electricity to power a million homes for more than 60 years. 

Find out more here.