Rolls-Royce SMR design clears first assessment stage

Rolls-Royce plan to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) in the UK has taken a step forward after clearing the first phase of a rigorous design assessment.

The Environment Agency, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have cleared Rolls-Royce’s 470MW SMR design to progress to the next phase of assessment.

The process, known as Generic Design Assessment (GDA), allows regulators to begin assessing the safety, security, safeguards and environmental aspects of new reactor designs before site-specific proposals are brought forward.

Step One of the GDA began in April 2022 and has now been successfully completed. It involved agreeing the scope of the GDA so the regulators can undertake a meaningful assessment of the design.

The next phase of the assessment is expected to last for 16 months. A large part of the second phase of assessment involves public consultation and as such Rolls-Royce has launched a comments process on its website, which enables anyone to submit comments and questions about the reactor design to the company for its response.

Relevant issues raised during the comments process, and Rolls-Royce’s responses to these issues, will be used to help inform the regulators’ assessments throughout the rest of the GDA process.

Andrew Pynn, the Environment Agency’s Strategy and Policy Lead for the Rolls-Royce SMR GDA, said: “We’re assessing the environmental acceptability of a new reactor design from Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd. Our team of specialist assessors will identify any issues or concerns we have with the design and will work with the company to make sure it understands our expectations to ensure the protection of communities and the environment.”

Rob Exley, ONR’s Head of Generic Design Assessment, added: “As nuclear regulators, we recognise that we are acting in the interests of the public and, as such, this period of scrutiny will be open, transparent and provide regular opportunities for meaningful engagement with interested parties throughout the GDA process.

“ONR is satisfied that Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd has adequate arrangements to support GDA. We have agreed an appropriate scope for GDA, for which the company has provided an appropriate submission schedule and a resourced organisation to deliver it.”

Natural Resources Wales is also involved in the GDA process and will be leading on engagement with people in Wales.

The GDA process focuses on the design of a generic nuclear power station and is not site-specific.

A Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) or Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA), from ONR and the environmental regulators respectively, will only be issued at the end of Step Three of the GDA if the design meets the high safety, security, safeguards, environmental protection and waste management standards expected by our regulatory frameworks.

These regulatory judgements do not guarantee the granting of a site licence or subsequent permissions issued under the conditions of a site licence for the construction of a power station based on the Rolls-Royce SMR design at a particular site in Great Britain.

Rolls-Royce has previously called for government clarity on potential future sites for SMR deployment.

In January, the company’s director of corporate and government affairs for the manufacturer’s small modular reactor (SMR) programme Alastair Evans said Rolls-Royce must have certainty on sites that it can use so that it can start to launch environmental permit and consent processes, which are location specific.