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The UK’s ability to deploy small modular reactors (SMR) has received a vote of confidence after leading researchers claimed the country has the necessary manufacturing capabilities to build one of the most important components.
A report by the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre examined the SMR design being developed by Westinghouse – the company which commissioned the study – and found the UK does have the right skills and technology needed to manufacture the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) affordably.
The idea behind SMRs is that – being both small and modular – they can be pre-fabricated in factories before being transported to a site, and can be combined together to form larger nuclear plants.
Westinghouse senior vice president of new plants and major projects Jeff Benjamin said: “The ability to source locally the steel; forge, machine and then assemble all of the Westinghouse small modular reactor RPV is a significant finding.
“We are confident that our innovative approach and ability to localise our supply chain and manufacturing in the UK, further demonstrates our commitment to developing SMR technology in the UK.”
Westinghouse said the RPV is one of largest and most technically demanding parts of any nuclear reactor. The vessel for the European pressurized reactor (EPR) being built by EDF and Areva at Flamanville in France has been plagued by manufacturing defects. The issue has led to concerns over Hinkley Point C which is set to use same reactor design.
In March the government launched a competition to identify the best value SMR designs for Britain, with the first phase aiming to gauge market interest amongst developers, investors and utilities.
Westinghouse has confirmed it is taking part, having made an unsolicited offer to the government in October to form a partnership for the development of SMRs.
Last month the chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association Tom Greatrex urged the government not to repeat the mistakes made with the competition to develop carbon capture and storage which was scrapped at short notice in November.
Read Utility Week’s analysis of the SMR competition here
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