Wylfa in North Wales has been selected as the site for the UK’s first publicly built small modular nuclear reactors, the government announced on 13 November.
The project is “expected to support up to 3,000 good jobs in the local community at peak construction, underpinned by billions of pounds of infrastructure investment out to the mid-2030s.”1
Plans to construct Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in the UK have previously been announced, in February 2024, by a private-financed initiative, a collaboration between US nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric Company and Community Nuclear Power (CNP), based in Cumbria.
The Wylfa scheme, on the other hand, is to be the first to be built by publicly-owned Great British Energy-Nuclear and, subject to final contract, designed by Rolls-Royce SMR, an eventuality that would prove “that the UK can still build big projects that stand the test of time”, said a government press release.
Both projects are scheduled for delivery in the 2030s.
Described as an investment of over £2.5 billion, the announcement builds on recent government funding plans in North Wales, including an Investment Zone to support advanced manufacturing.
An SMR is a compact, factory-built nuclear reactor designed to be cheaper, faster and more flexible to deploy than traditional large nuclear power plants, while providing reliable low-carbon energy.
Such a plant typically generates 50–300 megawatts of electricity per unit (compared with 1,600+ MW for huge plants like Hinkley Point C).
The UK’s Civil Nuclear Roadmap to 2050 outlines a planned parallel deployment of SMRs and large-scale nuclear reactors, with the latter remaining “the backbone” of the nuclear fleet. Changes to the optimal technology mix will accompany developments such as SMR cost reductions and deployment scale-up, suggests the document.2
In the recent Spending Review, the government also confirmed a £14.2 billion investment in Sizewell C, which will provide power for the equivalent of 6 million homes, and supporting 10,000 jobs.
The government has also announced plans for a further large-scale reactor project in addition to the current deployments at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. Great British Energy-Nuclear has been tasked with identifying potential sites, and will report back on this by Autumn 2026. This will include potential sites across the UK including Scotland.
Notes
[1] “North Wales to pioneer UK’s first small modular reactors”, press release, gov.uk. Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-wales-to-pioneer-uks-first-small-modular-reactors
[2] “Civil nuclear: roadmap to 2050 (accessible webpage)”, policy paper. Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-nuclear-roadmap-to-2050/civil-nuclear-roadmap-to-2050-accessible-webpage?utm_source=chatgpt.com
