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Rolls-Royce expecting UK approval for mini nuclear reactor by mid-2024 -Breaking

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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO – A Rolls-Royce logo can be seen on the aerospace engineering and design site of Bristol in Britain. December 17, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville

By Isabel Kua

(Reuters). – An OTC Rolls-Royce (OTC) design for a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR), will most likely be approved by the UK regulators by mid-2024. It can produce grid power in 2029. Paul Stein, Chairman of Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors told Reuters.

British officials requested approval from their nuclear regulator in March. They had previously backed Rolls-Royce’s November $546million funding round to build the nation’s first SMR-reactor.

Politicians hope that SMRs can reduce fossil fuel dependence and help lower carbon emissions.

Stein spoke to Reuters via a virtual interview. He said that the regulatory process had been initiated and would likely end in 2024.

“We’re trying to collaborate with the UK Government and other parties to start placing orders now, in order to have power on the grid by 2029.”

Stein said that Rolls-Royce will manufacture parts of the design while it waits.

One 470-watt (MW) SMR Unit costs approximately 1.8 billion pounds or $22.34 billion. It is built on 10 acres, which would roughly equal the area of about 10 football pitches.

SMRs are more affordable than conventional reactors and can be transported on planes and ships. Because they are modular, SMRs can be transported by containers from the factory to any site and then installed quickly.

($1 = 0.7676 pounds)

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