Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the announcement on 9 November 2021 that the Government would invest £210 million to develop small modular reactors in the UK, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the likely overall impact of that investment and (b) the progress that has been made in achieving that end up to 5 September 2022.

The Advanced Nuclear Fund includes up to £210 million announced in November 2021 for Rolls-Royce SMR to develop the design for one of the world’s first Small Modular Reactors, potentially capable of deployment in the UK in the early 2030s. This has already leveraged £280m of private sector investment to support the project and wider activities.

The project has completed significant engineering milestones, and the key objective of completing Step 2 of the Generic Design Assessment by Spring 2025 remains achievable – a view shared by the Infrastructure & Projects Authority in their July 2022 report.