French state energy giant EDF has pulled out of the competition to build mini-nuclear reactors in Britain, as it takes its blueprints back to the drawing board.
The company had been vying with five others to win government support for its small modular reactor (SMR) design, with two winners set to be chosen by the end of the year.
But with submissions for the latest stage of the competition due at 4pm on Monday, it is understood that EDF put forward no design and has effectively now withdrawn from the running.
The decision leaves five companies in the competition: Rolls-Royce, GE Hitachi, Westinghouse, Holtec Britain and Nuscale Power, all of which are understood to have met the deadline.
Great British Nuclear (GBN), the government agency handling the competition, will now seek to whittle down the list to just four companies before picking two winners who will then be awarded contracts to build the first demonstrator SMRs in Britain.
SMRs hold the promise of being far cheaper and quicker to build than large nuclear power stations, because of their modular, factory-made designs.
Labour has publicly supported SMRs but has yet to spell out whether it will follow the same timescales set out by the previous Conservative government – or whether it could aim to go faster. The party has vowed to make Britain’s power grid produce net zero carbon emissions by 2030, with nuclear power expected to play a crucial role.
EDF’s exit from the competition comes after it announced last week that it would halt internal work on new innovations for SMRs and switch to using existing technologies in designs.
The decision followed feedback from potential European customers who were concerned about costs.
EDF has said it will now “evolve the design” to “offer better conditions for success by facilitating technical feasibility”.
A Whitehall source said EDF’s decision to drop out of the UK’s SMR competition was not the result of any feedback from GBN but rather a consequence of the French company having to rethink its technology.
It comes after warnings from bidders, including Rolls-Royce, that there should be no further delays to the competition process, which was originally due to be wrapped up by this summer.
Britain risks losing ‘first mover advantage’
Under current timelines, GBN is expected to announce the winners before the end of this year and award contracts and sites at some point next year.
Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, warned that Britain risked losing its “first mover advantage” if there were further delays in the wake of last week’s election and change of government.
A spokesman for GBN declined to comment on Monday.
An EDF spokesman said: “EDF remains committed to supporting the development of nuclear in the UK.
“We are looking at the option for further lifetime extensions for our existing stations, building large-scale new nuclear stations at Hinkley and Sizewell and see great opportunity for a further large-scale station at Wylfa.
“Our sites at Heysham, Hartlepool and Bradwell offer land, grid and rail connections, a skilled workforce and supportive communities which make them compelling locations for small and advanced modular reactors.
“We will continue to work positively with the UK Government to deliver a new nuclear future.”
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
