The government has committed £210 million to the development of one of the world’s first small modular reactors (SMR.)

The funding will be matched by private sector funding of more than £250 million.

The investment will kickstart phase 2 of the Low-Cost Nuclear project, led by Rolls-Royce SMR, to further develop the technology’s design and take it through the regulatory processes to access suitability of a potential roll out in the UK.

The government says that new nuclear has a crucial role to play in providing reliable, affordable, low carbon energy.

The news comes as Parliament considers the Nuclear Energy Financing Bill which establishes a new financing model for nuclear projects, known as the Regulated Asset Base (RAB).

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the UK to deploy more low carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence,” said Kwasi Kwarteng, business and energy secretary. “Small modular reactors offer exciting opportunities to cut costs and build more quickly, ensuring we can bring clean electricity to people’s homes and cut our already-dwindling use of volatile fossil fuels even further.”

The business secretary claimed that the move means the government is backing the “largest engineering collaboration the UK has ever seen.”

“Not only can we maximise British content, create new intellectual property and reinvigorate supply chains, but also position our country as a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies we can potentially export elsewhere,” commented Kwarteng. “By harnessing British engineering and ingenuity, we can double down on our plan to deploy more home-grown, affordable clean energy in this country.”

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