British media are reporting Monday that a government report expected to be released tomorrow will name a consortium lead by Rolls-Royce as purveyors of the most favored design for development of a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR).
While developers in the United States and China are among those pushing to produce a small modular reactor that can greatly lower the costs, meltdown risks and construction time associated with large nuclear power plants, the British government requested information on SMR design models that would allow the Department for Businesses, Energy and Industrial Strategies to focus its resources.
The Rolls-Royce led consortium includes engineering firms Amec Foster Wheeler and Laing O'Rourke, research company Arup, nuclear-focused engineering and decommissioning company Nuvia, and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Center.
The report is expected to give the consortium a leg up on government grants on what is estimated to be a $600 billion industry once the SMR prototypes are successfully tested.