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Small Modular Reactors

Asked by Esther McVeyConservativeDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled Answered 9 December 2024UIN 16931

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when recent estimate his Department has made of when small modular reactors will be operational.

Answered by Michael Shanks

The Government is committed to ensuring new nuclear power stations, such as Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C, and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), will play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean power while securing thousands of good, skilled jobs.

Great British Nuclear (GBN), the government’s expert nuclear delivery body, is running an SMR technology selection process and is negotiating with four companies. Final decisions will be taken in the spring. GBN is working to a timeline that enables a robust process underpinned by fairness and transparency, to ensure any selected technology provides best value for money. The programme seeks to select those technologies best able to facilitate operational projects by the mid-2030s.

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