More than Twenty New Reactors
Posted: 22nd September 2025
Nuclear power plant developers have told NCE they hope to build more than
20 small modular reactors (SMRs), including advanced modular reactors
(AMRs), in the UK by the mid-2030s. X-energy and Centrica aiming to deploy
20 AMRs by mid-2030s. Amazon-backed AMR developer X-energy has joined
forces with British energy giant Centrica with ambitions to build “up to
12 advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool, with a follow-on UK-wide
programme targeting a fleet of 6GW of nuclear power”. X-energy’s Xe-100
(pictured) is an “80MWe reactor that can be scaled into a ‘four-pack’
320MWe power plant”, according to the company. It also describes the
Xe-100 as “the safest, most economic and most advanced design for a small
modular nuclear reactor”. Different nuclear power plant developers say
they have different requirements for public financial support, with some
requiring none at all, and others hinting they would need some support.
“We’re not looking for public procurement, but visible support for the
first project to unlock private investment,” the X-energy spokesperson
told NCE. “[The UK government] has said publicly that they are willing to
negotiate some equity and debt and a financing framework to attract
investors for privately led projects, and that’s what we’re looking
for. EN-7 refers to the National Policy Statement for nuclear energy
generation (EN-7), which is currently in draft form and expected to be
finalised and launched by the end of 2025. It would open up more of England
and Wales to new nuclear developments including SMRs. The government said
in its announcement this week that X-energy planned to deploy 12 AMRs at
Hartlepool and had ambitions to deploy 6GW more widely in England and
Wales. SMR construction could take just over 3 years – Holtec. Holtec,
which was one of the companies that missed out on Great British Energy –
Nuclear’s £2.5bn publicly-funded SMR programme, is working with EDF and
Tritax on plans to develop advanced data centres powered by small modular
reactors at the former Cottam coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire.
New Civil Engineer 16th Sept 2025
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/nuclear-developers-discuss-plans-to-build-over-20-smrs-in-uk-by-mid-2030s-with-private-funds-16-09-2025/