Proactive Investors - Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:LON:RR.) has seen its small modular reactor (SMR) pass the first step of the UK’s stringent regulatory assessment, effectively placing it twelve months ahead of competition.
It’s small modular reactor, designed to power up to a million homes apiece, passed step one of the generic design assessment (GDA), Rolls announced on Monday, meaning its viability will now be studied in greater detail.
Passing the hurdle effectively places Rolls twelve months ahead of competitors, a company spokesperson told Proactive, given its is the only SMR currently in the process.
Rivals Newcleo and GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy are among others to have applied for regulatory approval, with the UK set to launch its first SMR competition this month.
Winners of the competition will receive funding from the UK government to build the reactors, with Rolls having already been granted £210mln in 2021.
Regulators from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are carrying out the assessment.
“The purpose of GDA is to determine whether the design meets our robust safety, security, safeguards and environmental protection standards in Great Britain," ONR assessment boss Rob Exley said.
“[We are] satisfied that Rolls-Royce has adequate arrangements to support GDA," he added.
Its small reactors, which will use tech similar to that in nuclear submarines, are set to cost £1.8bn and will mainly be constructed in factory conditions.
If approved, they could be far cheaper and quicker to build than more-traditional nuclear plants like Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C.
“Step two is the fundamental assessment stage of the GDA where the detailed technical assessment by the regulators […] begins in earnest.
"Reaching this significant milestone puts the Rolls-Royce SMR significantly ahead of other designs in securing consent for an SMR to operate in the UK," the company said in a press release.