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ONR – Wylfa SMR Project Communications

  • Date released: 11 March 2026
  • Request number: FOI202602071
  • Release of information under: FOIA 

Information requested

Content - All communications, including texts, transcripts and meeting minutes related to a) safety b) security and c) waste management planning and analysis on the Wylfa SMR project, between ONR and:

  1. Rolls Royce
  2. Anglesey County Council
  3. Welsh government
  4. Natural Resources Wales
  5. The Environment Agency
  6. UK government

Please provide the information in PDF format text, tables and/or spreadsheets - whichever is easier - to this email address.

If you can identify ways that my request could be refined I would be grateful for any advice.

Our response

Content - We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information you have requested. This is because technical discussions with ONR regarding this project have yet to begin.

In June 2025, Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) announced that Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd has been successful in its competition to select a provider of small module reactor (SMR) technology. On 13 November 2025, GBE-N announced that Wylfa would be the site for three Rolls-Royce SMR units.

At the time of providing this response, commercial discussions remain ongoing, with Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd currently at ‘preferred bidder’ status. Technical discussions between GBE-N and Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd, and therefore by extension with ONR, cannot commence until a contract is signed between GBE-N and its technology provider, Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd.

ONR has not had any communications with Anglesey County Council, Welsh government, Natural Resources Wales, The Environment Agency or the UK government on safety, security and waste management planning associated with the Wylfa project.

Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd is unable to discuss safety, security and waste management planning issues associated with the Wylfa project with ONR because it remains under commercial discussions with its customer, GBE-N. Once a contract is signed, ONR’s engagements specifically on the Wylfa project will be with GBE-N and not Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd, with a view to technical engagements starting in FY2026/27.

Further information

Since 2022, ONR (and the Environment Agency and NRW) has been undertaking a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of the Rolls-Royce SMR design with Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd. This assumes a generic GB site, not specifically Wylfa. It has considered (on a generic basis) safety, security and waste management issues.

The GDA is undertaken in a step-wise manner. Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd has successfully completed Steps 1 and 2, and is now in Step 3. At the end of each completed Step, ONR issued a GDA Statement:

In the case of Step 2, we also published a summary report and a range of supporting reports on safety, security and waste management. See Step 2 GDA Statement for the Rolls-Royce SMR.

Step 3 remains ongoing, however we have published on our website a list of ‘Regulatory Observations’ from our ongoing assessment, along with Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd’s plans to resolve the raised observations during GDA. See Rolls-Royce SMR - Regulatory observations and resolution plans.

A requirement of the GDA process is that Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd maintains its own website, providing information to the public on its design and links to the key submissions it has provided to the regulators. See Rolls-Royce SMR - Generic Design Assessment. ONR is currently assessing version 3 of the documentation available at Documents | Rolls-Royce SMR - Generic Design Assessment.

Exemptions applied

None

Public Interest Test (PIT)

N/A

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