As part of its commitment to openness and transparency, Rolls-Royce SMR welcomes comments and questions about the Rolls-Royce SMR design. Your feedback will be incorporated into the GDA process.
How we will use your information
Your comments will be kept for use only in relation to the GDA process for the Rolls-Royce SMR. Return correspondence will only be in relation to your feedback.
Your comments may be published anonymously on the Rolls-Royce SMR GDA website and used during dialogue with our regulators in summarising comments we have received during the GDA process.
By submitting your comments you have consented to us using your information in this way.
FAQs
As part of the GDA comments process, and in fulfilling its commitment to openness and transparency, Rolls-Royce SMR has summarised and anonymously published some of the most frequent comments and questions.
These ‘FAQs’ will continue to be updated these as we progress through the GDA process.
Thank you for your continued valuable feedback.
Where are you in the GBN process?
Great British Nuclear has started detailed negotiations with the final four shortlisted companies, GE Hitachi, Holtec, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse for the UK’s Small Modular Reactor programme. After these negotiations are concluded, the companies will be invited to submit Final Tenders, which GBN will then evaluate.
As the only SMR company in the final step of the UK’s generic regulatory assessment, Rolls-Royce SMR is well placed to deliver on this opportunity to move at pace and deliver the next generation of nuclear for the UK.
Can the Rolls-Royce SMR use Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel?
The Rolls-Royce SMR design is based on using standard low enriched (less than 5%) uranium PWR fuel. The decision to base the design of the power station around standard PWR fuel was influenced by several factors, including the current availability of fuel within the market and the infrastructure required to ensure the safe long-term management of the spent fuel. Technically, the plant could use MOX fuel but this is not currently under consideration.
Does the Rolls-Royce SMR use accident tolerant fuel (ATF)?
Currently, there are no plans for the plant to use ATF, however, this would likely be possible in the future
Does the Rolls-Royce SMR produce more or less waste than a standard PWR?
The Rolls-Royce SMR design is a standard PWR, so its waste arisings per MW are broadly the same as other large PWRs. The Rolls-Royce SMR is being designed with waste minimisation in mind so during its construction, operation and decommissioning, we will generate as little conventional and radioactive waste as possible.
Over its 60-year lifetime, an SMR generates around 285m³ of spent nuclear fuel. The spent fuel contains more than 99% of the radioactivity.
What is the boundary of your site planning zone – is it at the site fence?
Given the UK’s approach to defining the Emergency Planning Zone it is not yet possible to define whether the site boundary will be the extent of the zone. This is because the EPZ is based on a number of local factors including wind direction and proximity to population. Given the lower inventory of material in the reactor core and enhanced passive safety measures, the Rolls-Royce SMR’s EPZ is likely to be substantially smaller than EPZs at existing plants.
Is your technology a ‘scaled-up’ submarine reactor?
No… Rolls-Royce has decades of experience and an unrivalled heritage designing propulsion systems for submarines, but the Rolls-Royce SMR has been designed specifically for use providing large amounts of stable, carbon-free electricity for the grid and energy intensive industries.
