Rolls-Royce, the UK-based global industrial technology group, announced on Monday that it has signed its second Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in two days. This second MoU is with predominantly State-owned Czech electricity utility CEZ, which is one of the ten largest energy companies in Europe and has operations in six European countries in addition to the Czech Republic. Rolls-Royce is leading an industry consortium (known as UKSMR), backed by the British government, to develop SMR nuclear power plants (NPPs), to be built for the UK itself and for export. The aim is to use advanced manufacturing techniques to produce the modules (which will make up the NPP) in factories and assemble them on site, within weatherproof canopies, all of which will serve to reduce costs.
