South Yorkshire selected for £1.5bn small nuclear reactor plant, creating 3,000 jobs
South Yorkshire is to host Britain’s first factory dedicated to building small modular reactors (SMRs), marking a major boost for the region’s economy and the UK’s nuclear industry.
Holtec, the privately owned nuclear power company headquartered in Florida, has chosen South Yorkshire as its preferred location for the £1.5 billion facility after looking at sites across the country, including the West Midlands, Cumbria, and Teesside.
The factory could create up to 3,000 jobs in high-tech, manufacturing components for SMRs—a technology that could be at the heart of the UK’s nuclear renaissance. Holtec is exploring several sites in the region, including areas around Doncaster city.
Gareth Thomas, Director of Holtec Britain, said: “Holtec Britain has been impressed by the huge interest in our new SMR factory across the UK and the strong support received from local authorities during our engagement. South Yorkshire beat off stiff competition from other parts of the UK to be our preferred location for our upgraded SMR factory. “
The region offers practical advantages for Holtec, including proximity to Sheffield Forgemasters, the complex casting specialist required to build responsive housing, and a skilled workforce steeped in a tradition of hard engineering.
Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire, commented: “In South Yorkshire, we build on centuries of innovation and engineering heritage to create world-leading facilities, skills and technology today; assets that will power the clean energy transition in the UK and beyond. We are on the cutting edge of the new nuclear, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation industry, and are proud to be home to the largest cleantech sector in the UK. “
SMRs are seen as a potential breakthrough in nuclear technology, aimed at reducing the cost and construction time of nuclear power plants. Unlike large reactors that are built on site from scratch, SMRs are built from industrially manufactured modules and assembled on site, which proponents say will make them cheaper and faster to produce at scale.
Holtec is one of five companies vying for government funding to build the country’s first SMRs, alongside Rolls-Royce, Westinghouse, GE Hitachi, and NuScale. Great Britain Nuclear, the government agency responsible for the competition, is expected to narrow the shortlist from five companies to four later this month. Two winners are expected to be selected later this year or early 2025 and will be awarded development sites.
