Rolls-Royce SMR strengthens the supply chain: Canadian BWXT is designing steam generators for British SMRs.

The Rolls-Royce SMR company from the United Kingdom signed a contract and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Canadian nuclear engineering firm BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT), thereby taking a key step in the development of its small modular reactor project

According to the contract, BWXT will be responsible for designing nuclear steam generators to be used in the future small modular reactor being developed by Rolls-Royce SMR. This reactor, with a power of 470 megawatts, is based on the design of a small pressurized-water reactor and is designed to provide a consistent baseload power generation for at least 60 years. Each reactor will use three steam generators.

BWXT Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of BWXT from Ontario, brings more than 60 years of experience in steam generator manufacturing. The company has to date delivered over 315 steam generators to nuclear power plants around the world.

The Memorandum of Understanding deepens the existing cooperation, highlighting Rolls-Royce's readiness to procure steam generators from BWXT for multiple reactor units in its global fleet. It also covers a plan to localize future production work if needed to support Rolls-Royce's global deployment.

Otherwise, Rolls-Royce SMR is currently the only company with several contracts for the construction of future small modular reactor projects in Europe. The Rolls-Royce design is characterized by a high degree of modularization: 90% of the reactor will be produced in factory conditions. This significantly reduces on-site activities (which are mainly assembly of prefabricated modules), drastically shortens construction timelines and minimizes project risk. The company was in June of this year chosen as the preferred technology for the UK's first SMR project. The goal is to have contracts signed later this year, and the power plants connected to the grid in the mid-2030s. And the Czech Republic last year selected Rolls-Royce SMR as a partner for building up to 3 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity, and the Czech energy company ČEZ took a 20% stake in the British company.

But at the same time, Rolls-Royce still does not have an operational small modular reactor model – which is the main problem of these reactor designs: very few of them are operational, and very few operational demonstrators, so indeed – despite constant media announcements – it is not entirely certain that this technology will actually take off.