Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 25350 on Rolls-Royce SMR: Government Assistance, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by Rolls Royce not to pursue plans for a heavy pressure vessel plant in Deeside on the return on capital; and how much and what proportion of the grant has been allocated to Rolls Royce.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design, potentially capable of deployment across the UK in the early 2030s. Whilst part of the work of the Programme has supported the design of key factories and engagement with potential locations, decision on deployment are outside of this funded programme and are a commercial matter for Rolls Royce SMR ltd.
For the current phase of the Low Cost Nuclear programme Rolls Royce SMR have been allocated a total grant of £139.3 which equates to 66.3% of the total grant of £210m awarded. The assessment of Value for Money of activities Rolls Royce is undertaking under the grant funding agreement is in line with Green Book principles.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an estimate of the percentage of the UK's total energy requirement that will be delivered through the Advanced Nuclear Fund in each of the next ten years.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Advanced Nuclear Fund (ANF) is a £385m fund that supports innovation in nuclear energy. It was announced in 2020 and is due to conclude in March 2025. It includes a grant of up to £210m to Rolls Royce SMR Ltd to develop their Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design, as well as other funding for Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) research and development.
The Government has set out a commitment for SMRs to be operational in the UK by the mid-2030s, and to build an AMR demonstrator by the early 2030s, as part of the wider ambition for nuclear power to provide up to 25% of the UK’s electricity by 2050. The ANF promotes innovations that will help to meet these goals, and therefore its contribution to the UK’s total energy requirement will be from the mid-2030s.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Roll-Royce's decision not to open a pressure vessel manufacturing facility to support the delivery of small modular reactors.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Nuclear vendors’ supply chain decisions are a matter for themselves to take. The Government has high ambitions for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - the Great British Nuclear-led SMR selection process is to be both robust and the fastest competition of its kind in the world, enabling operational SMRs by the mid-2030s.
Alongside the range of other activities across the nuclear programme, this is a really exciting time for nuclear, which is creating significant supply chain opportunities.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's press release entitled UK backs new small nuclear technology with £210 million, published on 9 November 2021, what the cost to the public purse is of Government support to Rolls Royce SMR since 2021; and if she will make an estimate of the level of future funding they are forecast to receive by 2035.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design to complete the Generic Design Assessment Step Two. The Rolls Royce SMR is potentially capable of deployment in the UK in the early 2030s. Grant payments are disbursed in arrears subject to Rolls-Royce SMR providing supporting evidence to the grant administrator, UK Research and Innovation. There have been no commitments made for future funding after the Low Cost Nuclear programme.
Separately, Rolls Royce SMR is one of six vendors in the Great British Nuclear SMR Technology Selection Process which have been invited to submit tenders for technology partner contracts. The total funding made available to successful bidders will be subject to tender evaluation and approval of the full business case.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's press release entitled UK backs new small nuclear technology with £210 million, published on 9 November 2021, what estimate she has made of the projected return on investment of the Government's support to Rolls-Royce SMR.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design, potentially capable of deployment in the UK in the early 2030s. The value for money of the Low Cost Nuclear programme was assessed against Green Book principles as part of normal approvals processes ahead of the grant award.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the flight hour limit is on Hawk T2 engines.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The engine life of the Rolls-Royce Adour 951 engine is currently limited to 1,700 flying hours due to safety limitations which were introduced following the discovery of damage affecting some engine components.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that in the competition to find the best modular reactor the support from agencies of the government of the United States and large US commercial enterprises for US designs will not place Rolls-Royce at a disadvantage.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The 2022 British Energy Security Strategy set out our ambition to deploy up to 24 Gigawatts of civil nuclear generation by 2050, around 25% of our projected 2050 electricity demand.
GBN is running an SMR technology selection process to select those technologies best able to facilitate Final Investment Decisions in the next Parliament and be operational by the mid-2030s.
In November 2021, Government announced £210m in new funding for Rolls-Royce SMR, awarded through the Low-Cost Nuclear challenge. This investment was to further develop SMR design and take it through the regulatory processes to assess suitability of potential deployment in the UK.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of risk of declining to adopt the Rolls-Royce reactor for the future of Britain’s nuclear industry.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is our ambition to deploy up to 24 Gigawatts of civil nuclear generation by 2050, around 25% of our projected 2050 electricity demand.
GBN is running an SMR technology selection process to select those technologies best able to facilitate Final Investment Decisions in the next Parliament and be operational by the mid-2030s.
Through the Advanced Nuclear Fund, the Government has awarded up to £210m to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design. The Rolls-Royce SMR entered the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process in March 2022, becoming the first SMR to begin UK nuclear regulation. In April 2023, the Rolls-Royce SMR progressed to Step 2 of GDA.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the design of the Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (RRSMR) was given a grant of £210m in the Low-Cost Nuclear award in 2021 and is one of six selected technologies, in the first phase of the Great British Nuclear Technology Selection Process aiming to identify technologies best able to reach a project Final Investment Decision by the end of 2029 and deliver projects in the mid-2030s.
In April 2022, the regulators began a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) looking at the safety, security, and environmental impact of the RRSMR reactor design. The regulators concluded in April 2023, that all required activities for Step 1 of the RRSMR GDA have been completed and progressed to Step 2.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 37 of the National Audit Office's report entitled The Equipment Plan 2023-2033, HC 315, published on 4 December 2023, what steps he is taking to improve the red rating from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority of the Core Production Capability.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) delivery confidence assessments reflect a judgement at a particular point in time. They do not represent the likelihood or not of successful delivery but are a representation of the level of risk and what further mitigation may be required in order to reduce such risk.
The red rating for the Core Production Capability programme reflects its ambitious timelines. The Department is working closely with Rolls-Royce Submarines to improve delivery confidence, including by increasing production rates and improving manufacturing resilience. The IPA has confirmed the ongoing actions are appropriate.