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Rolls-Royce signs deal with UK government body to bring three SMRs to Wylfa

20/4/2026

News

Distant view of large, blocky nuclear plant buildings set on coastline, with green land to foreground and sea in background, blue skies and white fluffy clouds above Photo: Adobe Stock/Gail Johnson
Wylfa was home to two 490 MW air-cooled Magnox nuclear reactors shut down in 2012 and 2015, respectively

Photo: Adobe Stock/Gail Johnson

Rolls-Royce has signed a contract with government-owned delivery body Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) to supply three units of its small modular reactor (SMR) to create a 1.4 GWe capacity nuclear power plant at the Wylfa site on Angelsey, North Wales.

Rolls-Royce SMR said that the two-stage contract will enable site-specific design activity and preparations for the site build at Wylfa, as well as allowing it to order long lead-time equipment from the supply chain.

 

Having been named as GBE-N’s preferred bidder in June 2025, the design received regulatory justification from the Environment Agency in March.

 

Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as technology partner by Czech electrical utility ČEZ last year for the proposed installation of up to 3 GW of generation capacity.

 

The company said: ‘This contract with GBE-N will help Rolls-Royce SMR retain its crucial first mover advantage in a market that is growing and attracting significant international interest. The business is currently the furthest through any European regulatory process.’

 

The deal won’t immediately lead to construction of the plant, because the reactor design is still being assessed by the UK regulator, and is not due to complete that process until the end of the year.

 

In related news, the UK National Wealth Fund has announced plans to commit up to £599mn to Rolls-Royce SMR to help support development of its generic design.

 

National Wealth Fund CEO, Oliver Holbourn, said: ‘Today’s announcement marks a significant moment for the future of our nuclear industry… This is exactly what the National Wealth Fund has been established to deliver, backing promising homegrown projects and technologies that will deliver transformational impacts.’