Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the viability of modular nuclear reactors.

The Government’s £385m Advanced Nuclear Fund includes funding for an Advanced Modular Reactor Research, Development & Demonstration Programme which aims to enable a High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) demonstration by the early 2030s to understand the potential of the technology. The Government’s decision to pursue HTGR technology was informed by publicly available reports and a technical assessment of advanced modular reactors.

The Government has also announced £210m of funding to support development of the Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor design. This has been matched by private investment. The work will further develop the design and enable it to undergo the first two of three stages of regulatory assessment.