Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) asked Boris Johnson to approve the engineering giant's mini nuclear reactor project within the next six months or risk delaying a project essential to Downing Street's green energy initiative.
Tom Samson, chief executive of the FTSE 100 group's Small Module Reactors arm, said it will not be able to deploy its first reactor by 2029 unless ministers place an order before the end of 2022, warning a delay in the tight deadline could have severe repercussions.
Rolls-Royce SMR has received around £500mln of investment for a plan to use its nuclear submarine technology, which the Royal Navy uses to power ships.
"If we do not have an instruction to deploy our technology in the UK by the end of this year, then our ability to meet 2029 will move back accordingly," warned Samson, reported in the Telegraph.
He said the Rolls-Royce SMR is "ready to sign a contract to deliver our first unit" and once it has received instruction from the government, it will be able to "immediately begin building the factories to produce our modules" and work with nuclear authorities and others to host its technology within the UK’s existing nuclear estate.
Each 470MW plant will be able to power approximately 1mln homes, a key part of the Prime Minister's plans for an energy revolution.
In March this year, the government asked the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to begin a design assessment of the company’s SMR concept, after the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy concluded that the design was ready to be assessed.
The ONR's generic design assessment (GDA) process normally takes four to five years for large-scale reactor designs.
The Rolls-Royce-led consortium, of which backers include Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and £210mln from the UK government, has chosen its shortlist of locations for the factory: Richmond in North Yorkshire, Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire, Sunderland, Deeside in Wales, Stallingborough in Lincolnshire, and Carlisle.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Johnson held talks with nuclear industry executives as the government said it was seeking to make Britain more energy independent.