Frazer-Nash has entered an agreement to provide technical and consultancy services to the Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) business.
Having recently secured funding, Rolls-Royce SMR will now proceed rapidly with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process, and identification of locations for the factories that will manufacture the modules to be connected on-site to construct operational power plants. Frazer-Nash will provide its services to support these activities, focussing on support to the design and development of the reactor island.
Rolls-Royce SMR is using proven nuclear technology, coupled with a unique factory-made module manufacturing and on-site assembly system, to harness decades of British engineering, design and manufacturing know-how. It is bringing together the best of UK industry to ensure the delivery of a decarbonisation solution that will be available to the UK grid in the early 2030s, and for export shortly afterwards.
Tom Purnell, Business Manager – Advanced Nuclear & Government, for Frazer-Nash Consultancy said:
“From the start of 2021 our specialist team has been embedded into Rolls-Royce SMR, providing expert advice supporting the design and development of the reactor island, systems, performance and associated verification and validation activities. This new agreement will allow us to continue to provide our services at a key time as Rolls-Royce SMR seeks to commence the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process.
“Our team brings over three decades of delivering support to the nuclear industry, including the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Nuclear Innovation Programme where our BEIS funded Nuclear Innovation Programme R&D is now being directly exploited to the benefit of the Rolls-Royce SMR programme. Our people will help Rolls-Royce SMR achieve its goal of a fleet of Small Modular Reactors providing a decarbonisation solution that will be available to the grid from the early 2030s.”
Nine-tenths of an individual Rolls-Royce SMR power plant will be built or assembled in factory conditions, and around 80% could be delivered by a UK supply chain. Frazer-Nash Consultancy will contribute to this total, providing support from across its UK offices including Bristol, Burton-on-Trent, Gloucester and Warrington.
A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station will occupy around one tenth of the size of a conventional nuclear generation site and power approximately one million homes. It can support both on-grid electricity and a range of off-grid clean energy solutions, enabling the decarbonisation of industrial processes and the production of clean fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and green hydrogen, to support the energy transition in the wider heat and transportation sectors.
Chris Tierney, Programme Director, for Rolls-Royce SMR said:
“The level of service received from FNC has been excellent in support of the Rolls-Royce SMR programme. We look forward to continuing our close working relationship as we develop our ambitions to deliver a fleet of SMR reactors in the UK and overseas.”
