U.K. picks Rolls-Royce, GE-Hitachi and four others for small nuclear reactors (NYSE:SMR) - Seeking Alpha
U.K. picks Rolls-Royce, GE-Hitachi and four others for small nuclear reactors (NYSE:SMR) | Seeking Alpha
U.K. picks Rolls-Royce, GE-Hitachi and four others for small nuclear reactors
NuScale Power Corporation (SMR),
GE
RYCEY,
HTHIF,
RYCEF,
HTHIY By:
Carl Surran, SA News Editor
4 Comments peterschreiber.media
Six companies including GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (NYSE: GE) ( OTCPK:HTHIF) ( OTCPK:HTHIY) and Rolls-Royce ( OTCPK:RYCEF) ( OTCPK:RYCEY) were selected to advance to the next round in a competition to develop smaller nuclear reactors, the U.K. government announced Monday.
Four other finalists are NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), Electricite de France, Holtec and Westinghouse Electric.
The companies will be invited to bid for contracts later this year, with the winners announced early next year, the government said.
The U.K. is seeking to raise its nuclear power capacity to 24 GW by 2050 as part of efforts to meet climate targets and boost energy security, representing ~25% of projected electricity demand compared with 14% today.
Rolls-Royce ( OTCPK:RYCEF) ( OTCPK:RYCEY) has made a move into Small Modular Reactor technology and has been vocal in its request for government support, after already receiving £210M in funding to help develop its reactors.
Large new nuclear projects with high upfront costs have struggled to attract financing, and the government hopes some older plants could be replaced by a fleet of SMRs that can be made cheaper and faster.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.