Rolls-Royce SMR has achieved a significant milestone in its regulatory journey, marking a crucial phase in the UK’s nuclear energy future.
- The company successfully completed Step 2 of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA), focusing on environmental protection features.
- The GDA is essential for ensuring safety, security, and environmental sustainability of new nuclear designs in the UK.
- Completion of Step 2 required a thorough technical evaluation, building on the determination of scope and timelines from Step 1.
- Rolls-Royce is poised to advance into Step 3, which includes a detailed environmental assessment and public consultation.
Rolls-Royce SMR has made a noteworthy advancement by completing Step 2 of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) as confirmed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency, and Natural Resources Wales. This step is integral to certifying that the new nuclear power plant designs adhere to rigorous standards of safety, security, safeguards, and environmental protection within the UK.
Commencing in April 2023, Step 2 involved a comprehensive technical assessment centring on the environmental protection attributes of Rolls-Royce’s reactor design. This follows the successful culmination of Step 1, which involved outlining the project’s scope and schedulable benchmarks starting early 2022.
The imminent transition to Step 3 marks a pivotal stage where Rolls-Royce will engage in an optional, yet substantial, detailed assessment of its environmental case. This stage will also incorporate a public consultation, allowing regulatory bodies to gather and deliberate on various inputs before arriving at a final verdict.
Helena Perry, director of safety and regulatory affairs at Rolls-Royce SMR, emphasised the importance of this milestone, articulating: “The completion of Step 2 of the GDA is the most important milestone to date in advancing deployment of Rolls-Royce SMRs in the UK. We have built fantastic momentum, and the team will move directly into Step 3 of this rigorous independent assessment of our technology – ideally positioning us to deliver low-carbon nuclear power and support the UK transition to net zero.”
Rolls-Royce’s initiative stands as a pioneering development being the first new nuclear power station to be designed and built in the UK in over a generation. These factory-built stations are engineered to provide substantial quantities of affordable, low-carbon electricity, potentially powering a million homes for more than six decades.
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce SMR is participating in the Great British Nuclear’s SMR technology selection process, which presents an opportunity to foster high-skilled employment and unlock vast export capabilities. This achievement concurrently aligns with the Nuclear Industry Association’s recent application for a justification decision, a legal requirement for new ionising radiation practices associated with Rolls-Royce’s SMR design.
Rolls-Royce SMR’s progress underscores its pivotal role in shaping the UK’s nuclear energy landscape.
