SMRS & ADVANCED REACTORS | A EUROPEAN ROADMAP
UK SMR sector bolstered by deal with US A raft of commercial deals for SMRs and microreactors were announced off the back off a wider US-UK economic partnership that will see a record £150bn ($202bn) of inward investment into the UK from US companies.
British utility Centrica is teaming up with X-energy on a joint
Above: US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced an agreement between the two countries on 18 September 2025 Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
development agreement that could see up to 12 Xe-100 high- temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) built at the existing Hartlepool nuclear site in North East England. This deal, which US President Donald Trump said has been in the works “for a long while,” could deliver £12bn ($16bn) in economic value and create up to 2,500 jobs. US-based reactor developer Holtec International, EDF UK and Tritax Management have signed a MOU that envisages building
SMR-300s to power new data centres at the former Cottam coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire. The potential £11bn ($15bn) project could create 15,500 new jobs and add £930m to the local economy each year. Microreactor developer Last Energy and logistics company DP World have inked a MOU to establish a single
20 MWe microreactor at the London Gateway logistics hub by 2030. Backed by £80m ($108m) in private investment, the proposed PWR-20 would supply clean, baseload power needed to support a £1bn expansion of the port and business park. Unlike many other vendors Last Energy’s model is to sell electricity via PPAs rather than its reactors. Building on an existing alliance, TerraPower and engineering company KBR plan to evaluate potential sites for
deployment of the Natrium advanced reactor technology in the UK. Construction of each 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor and molten salt-based energy storage system is expected to support 1,600 construction jobs and 250 permanent positions. Shortly prior to the US state visit, Westinghouse signed MOUs with several UK-suppliers (William Cook Cast
Products, Trillium Flow Technology, Curtiss-Wright Controls (UK), Boccard UK, Bendalls Engineering and Sheffield Forgemasters) to support potential AP300 and AP1000 projects. Westinghouse has a MOU in place with Community Nuclear Power, an SMR development facilitator, for the construction of four privately-financed AP300 units at the North Tees Group Estate site in North East England.
In addition, a newly expanded MOU between the UK’s Office
for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) could also reap benefits across Europe. The ONR is targeting completion of reactor design reviews within two years, and nuclear site licensing within one year, while the Environment Agency will explore accelerating site permitting. This regulatory simplification and harmonisation effort, “will help to reduce costs and speed up the construction of the first wave of SMR plants”, according to Roger Martella, chief corporate officer of GE Vernova. Gareth Thomas, director of Holtec Britain told NEi that
closer collaboration is likely to speed up the company’s final UK site licensing application, projected to occur in 2028, “as detailed US regulatory review will be already significantly progressed”. This could have wider benefits for European projects, too,
as those designs that have been licensed in the UK or US may be able to benefit from similar agreements with European regulators. However, as licensing approaches differ there may be “gaps” between the frameworks, so in some instances there will be little change in the pace of assessments.
Supply chain development At least 22 SMR designs have entered into binding contracts with supply chain companies, while 19 have signed non-binding agreements, NEA analysis shows. However, supply chain development remains at an early stage and is not yet fully integrated across Europe. The Alliance will map European capabilities and assess how government and EU incentives like the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) project on innovative nuclear technologies
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(launched in April) and support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) can help close gaps. Developing a secure and robust fuel supply is also critical.
According to the NEA dashboard, 47 SMR designs rely on fuel forms that are not currently available at commercial scale. Urenco’s new £196m ($230m) Advanced Fuels Facility in Capenhurst, UK is expected to produce around 10 tonnes of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel annually from 2030, setting it up to be Europe’s first commercial HALEU facility. At present only Russia and China have industrial facilities that can produce HALEU at scale.
European SMR deployment path Borovas stresses that clear project structures with “investors willing to take on some of the development and completion risk, as well as robust offtake arrangements with potential customers,” are vital for the first wave of SMR deployment. Meanwhile, Crosbie predicts that final investment decisions on the first European SMR projects are likely to be taken in nations with political support and stability, putting the UK, Romania, Czech Republic and Sweden in the running to be early deployers. Poland – despite political backing – is likely to face barriers when it comes to financing and due to the sheer scale of its programme. The country is also a newcomer to commercial nuclear. Though timing is uncertain, coordinated regulatory,
finance and supply-chain action make a European SMR rollout feasible. “I think these collaborations are essential enablers… that will help de-risk investment, streamline regulation and demonstrate [SMR] viability at scale. That’s really what the market needs,” Crosbie concludes. ■
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