UK shortlists four developers including Rolls Royce for small nuclear projects

LONDON: Britain has short-listed four companies including

Rolls Royce

and

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy

for the next stage of its competition to develop

small modular nuclear reactors

(SMRs), the government said on Thursday.
Britain’s new labour government has said small nuclear plants will play an important role in helping the country meet its net zero targets and has a competition to decide which technology it should choose.

The other two companies which will go to the next stage, which involves negotiating with the government on possible deployment of units, are

Westinghouse

and

Holtec Britain

.
Two companies are likely to be ultimately chosen with the aim of deploying projects in the 2030s.
Large new

nuclear projects

with high upfront costs have struggled to attract financing and the government hopes some older plants could be replaced by a fleet of SMRs that can be made in factories with lower costs and faster construction.