UK-based global major industrial technology group Rolls-Royce recently signed, in rapid succession, two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) regarding the development and operation of small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power plants (NPPs). Rolls-Royce is leading a consortium, supported by both industry and the British government, to develop an SMR NPP for the UK and export (being referred to as the UKSMR). The UKSMR concept is to produce a low-cost NPP, whose components would be manufactured in a factory, using advanced manufacturing technologies to cut costs. The components would be assembled on site within a weatherproof canopy, to prevent the assembly process being disrupted, thereby also reducing costs. Each UKSMR would have a generating capacity of 440 MW.
