The U.K. government is championing small nuclear reactors as a key part of its decarbonization strategy in a move that left developers of traditional large-scale plants in limbo. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government’s 12 billion-pound ($15.9 billion) strategy to green the economy included 500 million pounds for reactors that are a fraction of the size and cost of traditional nuclear plants. The aim is to encourage private investors to bring more capital into developing the technology.
A cross-section illustration of a NuScale Power reactor building.
Source: NuScale Power
“The future for nuclear in the U.K. may be in the development of small modular reactors, which can be prefabricated and delivered to sites partly constructed,” said Tom Heggarty, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. This “should allow new nuclear plants to be delivered at lower cost, though the technology has a long way to go before being commercially proven.”
The government says it’s still “pursuing large-scale nuclear projects subject to value-for-money. To support this, we will provide development funding,” according to the plan published Wednesday.