Subsidies similar to those for offshore wind could help meet emissions targets and boost exports, experts say

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Britain should offer developers of mini nuclear plants subsidies similar to those made available to the offshore wind industry, an independent review commissioned by the government has recommended.

Britain needs to invest in new power-generating capacity to replace ageing coal and nuclear plants that are due to close in the 2020s, and is seeking low-carbon options to help meet its emission reduction targets.

The government has been investigating whether mini nuclear plants – so-called small modular reactors (SMR) – could offer a solution, and whether the industry could help boost much-needed exports as Britain leaves the European Union.

The government “should establish an advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative (as it did with offshore wind) to bring forward existing and new manufacturing capability”, said the report by the Expert Finance Working Group on Small Reactors.

Government support for offshore wind has enabled that industry to drive down costs, and reduce subsidies.

The report also said the nascent SMR industry could provide a boost for British manufacturing and exports.

“There is a real short-term opportunity for the UK as supply chains are yet to be established for small nuclear projects (unlike large nuclear with established supply chains largely outside the UK),” the report said.

Rolls-Royce, which hopes to build SMRs in Britain as part of a consortium, said the export market could be worth as much as £400bn.

SMRs use existing or new nuclear technology scaled down to a fraction of the size of larger plants and would be able to produce around a tenth of the electricity created by large-scale projects.

The mini plants, which could be deployed by 2030 according to the review, would be made in factories, with parts small enough to be transported on trucks and barges where they could be assembled much more quickly than their large-scale counterparts.

The energy minister Richard Harrington said the government would consider the review’s findings.

The review “recognises the opportunity presented by small nuclear reactors and shows the potential for how investors, industry and government can work together to make small nuclear reactors a reality,” he said.

Rolls-Royce has launched a bid to build SMRs as part of a UK consortium with Amec Foster Wheeler, Nuvia, Arup and Laing O’Rourke, with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

Another group to express an interest is NuScale, majority owned by US group Fluor Corp.