Planned nuclear facility is centrepiece of company’s UK investment plans
Small modular reactor (SMR) developer Holtec Britain, one of three companies in the running to deploy SMRs in the UK, has chosen a site next to Doncaster-Sheffield Airport in northern England as the preferred location for its planned new UK factory.
The company said it is now entering detailed negotiations with the developer, Peel Land.
Holtec’s decision also comes weeks after the prime minister, Keir Starmer, confirmed £30m (€35m, $40.5m) to fund the reopening of the airport.
Since it closed in 2022, local politicians and businesses have campaigned to reopen it to drive growth across the region.
Holtec Britain, a subsidiary of US-based Holtec International, said it had chosen the site after evaluating 13 regions across the UK.
The company said the planned factory is the centrepiece of its UK investment plans. Crucially, the new hub will give the UK “first mover advantage” at the helm of a new export market for SMR components worth billions.
The factory will produce two SMR units annually, with half of the output slated for exports.
Holtec’s SMR-300 plant is a pressurised water reactor – the most common type in the world and a scaled-down version of the type under construction at Hinkley Point C, helping to standardise supply chains and develop an experienced UK workforce.
In February the government body Great British Nuclear announced that it had entered the final stage of its SMR selection process.
Holtec, GE-Hitachi, Rolls Royce and Westinghouse Electric were all invited to submit a final tender for the competition.
Three of those companies – Holtec, GE-Hitachi and Rolls Royce – have since confirmed they have submitted final tenders.
