Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) shares hit a new all-time high as the company confirmed that its small modular reactor (SMR) business is in the process of applying for US regulatory permission, with the process on both sides of the Atlantic expected to be eased by a new US-UK nuclear pact announced on Monday.
In a joint statement, the UK and US governments said they will "fast-track nuclear reactor design checks" by recognising each other’s safety assessments, cutting duplication and speeding approvals to around 24 months for advanced designs such as the model that Rolls-Royce SMR has developed.
The UK and US will "share the workload" of new projects entering site licensing, the announcement from the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said, speeding up delivery to get nuclear project sites approved more quickly.
Both countries are looking for alternative sources of extra energy that do not rely on the whims of the weather, partly to power growing electricity demands, some of which is from mushrooming and power-hungry data centre sites.
Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic welcomed the commitment of both governments to accelerate the deployment of new nuclear technologies.
"Rolls-Royce has unique capabilities in nuclear as the only company globally with full lifecycle experience, end-to-end capability and an established supply-chain," he said.
In June, Rolls-Royce SMR was chosen as the UK government's preferred bidder to develop the UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors, with Great British Energy planning to allocate a site to build the first SMR later this year in order to connect it to the grid in the mid-2030s.
Erginbilgic said the company particularly welcomed the commitment of the UK government and Great British Energy "to speed up deployment" through the accelerated licencing process and planning reforms.
"We are also pleased to announce we have entered the US regulatory process for our SMR, a critical step to paving the way for additional jobs and investment potential in the US."
Rolls shares rose 1.8% to 1,150p by lunchtime on Monday, having notched a new high of 1,152p on the way, up more than 132% over the past 12 months