July 4, 2022 4.00 pm This story is over 20 months old

Two Lincolnshire sites shortlisted for new Rolls-Royce factory

Manufacturing nuclear power station parts
Digital visual of the Rolls-Royce SMR power station. | Photo: Rolls-Royce SMR 

An Associated British Ports site in Grimsby and Pioneer Park in Stallingborough have been shortlisted as potential locations for Rolls-Royce SMR’s first factory manufacturing parts for a nuclear power station.

It will be the first of three factories which will manufacture the ‘heavy vessels’ for its Small Modular Reactor and the firm wants to make an early decision over the largest and most complex facility.

Construction will begin once Rolls-Royce SMR receives the go-ahead to build a fleet of SMRs in the UK.

The factory is expected to be a size equivalent to three football pitches. It has a value to the region of £100-200 million and will create over 200 permanent jobs.

The shortlist was selected against a clear set of criteria, picked from over 100 submissions from Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and development agencies – suggesting sites across the UK where the Rolls-Royce SMR factories could be located.

The shortlisted sites are:

  • North East – IAMP Sunderland
  • Forrest Park Newton Aycliffe
  • North Yorkshire – Catterick 53, Richmond
  • Wales – Gateway, Deeside
  • Yorkshire – Ferrybridge
  • Greater Lincolnshire – ABP site (Associated British Ports) in Grimsby & Pioneer Park, Stallingborough
  • Cumbria – Kingmoor Park, Carlisle

The other two factories will manufacture civils modules and mechanical electrical and plumbing (MEP) modules. They will be transported to sites and assembled into a nuclear power station that will generate 470MW of low-carbon electricity.

These locations will be selected from the full list of submissions – giving all locations further opportunities to host a Rolls-Royce SMR factory.

Tom Samson, Rolls-Royce SMR Chief Executive, said: “I would like to thank everyone who sent in a submission suggesting locations in their region for the first Rolls-Royce SMR factory. The response was fantastic and shows the ambition and appetite of the UK to build and operate a fleet of SMRs which will provide affordable, low-carbon electricity for generations to come.

“The final location will come from the shortlist and will result in significant investment, long-term high-skilled jobs and will support the UK Government’s aspirations for levelling-up. Today’s announcement is another example of the pace of our project and why Rolls-Royce SMR is the UK’s domestic nuclear energy champion.”