Rolls-Royce SMR Project Could Kickstart EU Supply Chain - 2026

Nuclear Power Industry

Ford reported in early January 2026 that The state-backed Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project in the U.K. will support the growth of wider European SMR supply chains and help derisk nuclear deployments, experts told Reuters Events.

MAP: UK nuclear power plant sites 
Source: World Nuclear Association (WNA)

Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N), a government-owned body charged with accelerating nuclear deployment, in November chose Wylfa in North Wales as the site of the country’s first three SMRs, with space for up to eight units in total. Work is underway on site licensing and environmental approvals and, subject to final contract, the reactors will be designed by Rolls-Royce. First power is due in the mid-2030s.
 
The Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MW pressurised water reactor, providing about 1.4 GW for the first three units. The UK government is backing the project through a 2.5 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) investment to lay the groundwork for a fleet-based approach to nuclear development.

The Wylfa project is part of government efforts to boost nuclear power capacity to up to 24 GW by 2050 from approximately 6.5 GW now. It will sit on the site of a decommissioned nuclear plant that closed in 2015, with defueling finishing in 2019. Wylfa will provide a huge boost for nuclear supply chains, a GBE-N spokesperson said. By being the first country in Europe to deliver modularised nuclear power plants, “we’ll be giving British companies the opportunity to be part of that wider international supply chain, giving them the chance to demonstrate their delivery experience across the UK, Europe and beyond,” the spokesperson added.

Under a deal signed in October, Canada's BWX Technologies (BWXT) agreed to collaborate in the design of the Rolls-Royce SMR. The companies also signed a memorandum of understanding under which Rolls-Royce agreed in principle to procure steam generators for its SMRs from BWXT. They also agreed to "support future manufacturing and related activities” in the UK, Czech Republic and across Europe to secure a supply of parts including pumps, valves, heat exchangers and tanks.

The UK nuclear offshoot of Curtiss-Wright, a U.S. provider of aerospace, defence and energy technology, signed a strategic partnership in August to supply SMR critical safety systems to Rolls-Royce. The government hopes the project will be replicated elsewhere in the UK and further afield. Rolls-Royce SMR and Czechia’s largest public company, CEZ, last year agreed to partner on the development of 3 GW of SMRs in Czechia. In August, the UK firm also signed a strategic partnership with Czechia’s Skoda JS to explore the production of key components for a global fleet of SMRs.
 
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Skoda JS would like to provide Rolls-Royce “with a wide range of supplies for the SMR primary circuit,” Frantisek Krcek, Skoda JS Chairman and CEO, told Reuters Events. The wider Rolls-Royce SMR deployment could boost the European nuclear supply chain said Mattia Baldoni, European Nuclear Society Communications and Project Manager.

SMRs rely on modular, factory-based production and standardised components, so their deployment encourages cross-border cooperation but “greater alignment is needed in licensing approaches, component qualification, and long-term fuel cycle capabilities,” Baldoni told Reuters Events.
State support to mitigate challenges
 
The main project challenges are keeping regulatory approvals on schedule, establishing the right financing structure for a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) project and scaling the UK supply chain, said Iolo James, Head of Communications at the Nuclear Industry Association. However, the government “is already reducing early-stage risk through site ownership, investment and policy reform,” James told Reuters Events. Rolls-Royce SMR will also need to rapidly hire and train personnel and build strong relations with the local community to avoid a potential backlash, said Virginia Crosbie, a Nuclear Institute trustee.
 
Risk will be shared, with the government shouldering part of the FOAK burden and supporting early enabling works, and Rolls-Royce SMR taking responsibility for design, qualification and module manufacturing.

CHART: UK operational nuclear capacity
Note: Unit of power is MWe. Source: World Nuclear Association (WNA)

 GBE-N is currently finalizing the contract with Rolls-Royce SMR, with the partners working together “on developing the site-specific design of their technology,” the GBE-N spokesperson said. Rolls-Royce SMR expects to have its design approved by the Office of Nuclear Regulation by December 2026.
As a FOAK project, Wylfa “undeniably comes with challenges” but the developers are learning from the experiences of large-scale reactor projects Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C and Horizon and “working hard to understand how we can minimise risk and deliver value for money,” the GBE-N spokesperson said.

The UK has been building Hinkley Point C since 2017 and is in the early stages of building Sizewell C. Both projects will each feature two 1.6 GW pressurized water reactors and are being developed by France’s EDF. Horizon was a previous initiative to build new nuclear plants at Wylfa that was cancelled in 2021 after project developer Horizon Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of Japan's Hitachi, failed to secure financing.

The UK is taking a coordinated national approach with “a government-owned site, upfront public investment and a central delivery body guiding deployment around an agreed technology,” said James.

In contrast, U.S. development is decentralised, marked by multiple competing designs and state-by-state market structures. This approach can be innovative but “this fragmentation contributed to the [2023] cancellation of NuScale’s Idaho project due to escalating costs and uncertain demand,” Crosbie told Reuters Events.