The British government has asked regulatory authorities to activate the review procedure on the SMR of Rolls-Royce. Policy stipulators are hoping that this implementation would help to lower the dependency on fossil fuels and lower carbon emission. Each small factor is expected to provide power for approximately one million households.

The UK allocated US$546 million of financing to support Rolls-Royce’s development on the first SMR (Advanced Small Modular Reactor) of the country, which is a new technology that can attain net zero emission and possess export potential.

Natural gas prices had arrived at a new high on Monday amidst the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Kwasi Kwarteng, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commented that the new nuclear project will lower the UK’s dependency on exorbitant natural gas and exert essential functions.

SMRs can be manufactured from factories, and their components are small enough to be transported by trucks and barges, with faster and more affordable assemblages. Each micro factory is able to provide enough power for approximately one million households. Rolls-Royce estimates the SMR business to create 40K job opportunities according to the local and export demand.

Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) commented that it has been asked to execute a generic design assessment on Rolls-Royce’s 470MW SMR, and emphasize on necessary arrangements in accordance with the corresponding schedule. This will be the first assessment on SMRs by a regulatory authority.

Rolls-Royce is developing SMR mainly due to the intention of providing power for mining operations on the moon and Mars. The company is also studying how SMRs are able to propel rockets in space, as well as provide energy for mining, processing, and storage in mining operations on the moon since the planet contains an abundance of natural resources, including water that can be converted into rocket fuels, and metals that can be utilized in producing energy and producing electrical products for returning to earth. Moon is also the source of various rare elements.

 (Cover photo source: Rolls-Royce)