Holtec Britain announces shortlist of four sites in competition to host £1.3bn reactor factory

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Holtec Britain has announced a shortlist of four sites in England in its competition to find a new factory and production site to build a fleet of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

If selected by the Government, the firm is set to plough an initial investment of £1.3bn into the chosen location for the new plant, which will build SMRs for deployment across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. The 20-hectare factory is set to generate thousands of jobs over the next 15 years, while also helping the UK to meet its net zero goals, with a Government target of 24GW of nuclear capacity by 2050.

New analysis carried out by the economics consultancy Chamberlain Walker anticipates that the planned factory will be part of an export market which could be worth hundreds of billions in the run up to 2050. The project is also expected to contribute around £1.5bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the final site’s economy.

Local authorities and businesses were invited to submit Expressions of Interest (EOIs) earlier this year, and were assessed on deliverability, connectivity, regeneration potential, skills and research, and quality of life. Of the 13 that took part, the four through to the final stage are South Yorkshire Combined Authority, West Midlands Combined Authority, Tees Valley Combined Authority and Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (CLEP).

Holtec’s technology has been shortlisted by GBN (Great British Nuclear) as one of six firms to lead the nuclear reactor project, alongside EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy International LLC, NuScale Power, Rolls Royce SMR and Westinghouse Electric Company UK Limited.

The Tees Valley has reached the shortlist for three SMR sites. The Holtec Britain scheme, which would help in the construction of two to four reactors a year and would see no nuclear fuel based at the site, has been touted to add £100m to the local economy every year once it is up and running.

A final decision to select the winning location will be made in the autumn. It is expected that the site will be used to produce between two and four reactors per year, valued at £1-2bn each. The factory site will not deal with any nuclear fuel.

Holtec’s senior adviser in the UK, Prof Dame Julia King, said: “We were very pleased to receive 13 detailed responses from partners across the country backed by local MPs and leaders of Local and Combined Authorities. We have now chosen the four leading bids and in the next few months I look forward to visiting all four locations and working with the team assessing the bids with a view to making successful final selection.

“The impact on the local economy for the successful bidder will be game changing. The construction phase is anticipated to directly generate around 3,600 jobs, while the manufacturing operations will sustain up to 400 jobs annually. The UK target of net zero by 2050 is one we must meet. Nuclear will play an important role in meeting that target, in the UK and globally. The Holtec Small Modular Reactor offers safe, reliable and clean baseload capacity based on existing proven technology. ”

South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard said: “I’m pleased to see we’re on the shortlist to be the home of Holtec’s new UK factory. South Yorkshire is cementing our place at the forefront of manufacturing the UK’s Small Modular Reactor capability, in partnership with world leading companies like Holtec. We have the biggest cleantech cluster in the UK because of our capabilities and expertise, and this is yet more evidence of those unique strengths.”

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen said: “I am delighted that our area has been named in the shortlist for Holtec’s ground-breaking project, which will deliver significant jobs and investment. Our region is at the forefront of the clean energy revolution in which nuclear will play a vital role, so we are dedicated to developing our area as a location for such major developments.”

Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

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Holtec Britain announces shortlist of four sites in competition to host £1.3bn reactor factory

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