ONR comment on SMR siting announcement

We note the government announcement to select Wylfa as the first site for constructing three Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) units.
 
The Rolls-Royce SMR design is currently in Step 3 of the voluntary Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process. As the plans for the safe and secure deployment of the Rolls-Royce SMR move into this next phase, we will continue to liaise with both Great British Energy-Nuclear and the technology vendor (Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd) to ensure a streamlined way of working, maximising the benefit of GDA for site-specific deployment.
 
Our role, as the independent regulator is to support cost-effective, efficient nuclear operations and deployment while ensuring the safety and security of the public and workers. As we strive to continue to make timely and robust regulatory decisions, our enabling approach to regulation has demonstrated our open stance to innovation and new technologies, with us ready to regulate new projects and provide trusted, timely, independent advice and guidance to government
 
We will continue to engage across the whole nuclear sector through every forum to maintain proportionate and consistent regulation to benefit the timely delivery of safe new nuclear projects.