Rolls-Royce SMR has been selected by Great British Energy – Nuclear as the preferred technology for the UK’s small modular reactor programme, following a two-year evaluation process. The decision clears the way for the construction of the first next-generation nuclear plants in the United Kingdom, designed and built by a British company.
The initial contract covers the Gwyndod site on the Isle of Ynys Môn, in North Wales. In parallel, the British government has granted nuclear justification to the project — a regulatory milestone that formally recognises the technology’s climate and economic benefits. According to current estimates, the first plants could see first concrete poured as early as 2027, with the goal of connecting up to 1.5 GW of low-carbon energy to the national grid and creating more than 8,000 long-term jobs.
On the European front, in April 2026 Rolls-Royce SMR and Czech energy group ČEZ signed an Early Works Contract to kick off the Czech Republic’s first SMR programme, with the Temelín site as its starting point. The agreement enables site-specific engineering, licensing procedures and permitting to begin in earnest. The partnership aims to deliver up to 3 GW of clean electricity across the country. Then in June, Norwegian company Videberg Kraft announced it had chosen Rolls-Royce SMR as its technology partner for three reactors on the Värö Peninsula, on Sweden’s west coast, for a combined capacity of approximately 1,500 MWe.
To oversee construction, Amentum — a US company listed on the NYSE — was brought on board in January 2026 as programme delivery partner. Its role spans integration, oversight, construction management and site execution in both the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. The 470 MWe PWR designed by Rolls-Royce is a light water-cooled reactor, with a target cost estimated at between $55 and $75 per MWh once full manufacturing maturity is reached — competitive against many other low-carbon technologies. The Generic Design Assessment (GDA) conducted by UK nuclear regulator ONR was expected to be completed during 2026.
What 2026 reveals is a programme that has stopped being a promise and started becoming a construction site. Three operational contracts across three countries, a delivery partner appointed, a confirmed site in Wales and another in the Czech Republic: the pieces are falling into place. If the timeline holds, Rolls-Royce SMR reactors could be among the first Western SMRs to come online in Europe in the early 2030s — at a time when demand for clean, reliable energy shows no sign of slowing.
