Britain Builds Steam Turbines Rolls-Royce Mini-Nuclear Reactors
British workers are set to manufacture steam turbines for Rolls-Royce’s planned fleet of small modular reactors (SMRs), in a move that promises to strengthen domestic manufacturing and reduce reliance on overseas suppliers for a critical piece of nuclear power equipment. Siemens Energy will produce the huge machines for the new generation of small modular reactors at its factory in Newcastle. The turbines will be used in the three Rolls-Royce-designed SMRs that are being built in Anglesey, as well as in further reactors that are set to be built in the Czech Republic and Sweden.
The decision marks a significant moment for British industry because it will be the first time in more than 20 years that large steam turbines have been made domestically. The expansion of the Newcastle factory will follow an investment understood to be worth tens of millions of pounds, and it is expected to create around 550 jobs. That combination of capital investment and skilled employment gives the announcement considerable weight, especially at a time when policymakers are focused on energy security, industrial capacity, and the resilience of supply chains.
The move also follows concerns raised by MPs that SMR components were set to be built abroad. Those concerns reflected a broader anxiety about whether Britain would capture the industrial benefits of its own nuclear ambitions or simply import the key parts from other countries. By choosing to manufacture the steam turbines in Newcastle, Siemens Energy and Rolls-Royce SMR are signalling that at least part of the supply chain will remain on British soil.
Rolls-Royce SMR said the decision by German engineering giant Siemens demonstrated how the company was “delivering its commitment to localisation, driving investment and re-shoring work that would have taken place overseas.” The phrase “re-shoring” is particularly important because it captures the idea of bringing back manufacturing activity that might otherwise have been located in another country. For supporters of domestic industry, that is a central part of the announcement’s appeal.
Rolls-Royce SMR is an independent company. It is majority owned by Rolls-Royce, but its investor base also includes Qatar and France’s Perrodo family. That structure means the business combines the heritage and engineering reputation of Rolls-Royce with additional international investment. The company’s chief executive, Chris Cholerton, framed the turbine decision as part of a longer industrial story. “We are building on a remarkable industrial legacy while creating and sustaining the skills and supply chain needed to deliver clean, secure and affordable energy for decades to come,” he said.
Darren Davidson of Siemens Energy also emphasised the wider significance of the work. “We’re preparing to manufacture the next generation of steam turbines for small modular reactors, supporting energy security, creating skilled jobs and helping power the UK’s future energy mix,” he said. His comments connect the project to three priorities that often appear together in debates about nuclear power: energy security, employment, and the transition to a lower-carbon energy system.
The Government awarded Rolls-Royce a contract to design and develop Britain’s first three SMRs last year. Those reactors will be built in Anglesey, North Wales, in a project aimed at proving the commercial viability of the still-nascent technology by the mid-2030s. Each reactor is expected to generate 470 megawatts of power. If the project succeeds, it could help establish small modular reactors as a viable option for producing reliable low-carbon electricity at a smaller scale than traditional large nuclear plants.
Rolls-Royce selected Siemens Energy as its supplier of steam turbines last year, but until now there had been uncertainty about where the key components would actually be manufactured. That uncertainty mattered because the location of manufacturing determines not only the direct economic benefits, such as jobs and investment, but also the strength of the domestic supply chain. The confirmation that the turbines will be built in Newcastle removes some of that ambiguity and gives the project a clearer industrial footprint.
The British company had faced a backlash earlier this year after it emerged that some other parts would be made overseas. Those parts included reactor pressure vessels that will be imported from either South Korea or the Czech Republic. That disclosure raised questions about how much of the SMR programme would genuinely support British manufacturing and how much would depend on foreign suppliers. The latest announcement does not answer every question about local content, but it does provide a notable counterweight by securing a high-value component for domestic production.
Taken together, the decision to build the steam turbines in Newcastle represents more than a single procurement choice. It is a signal about the kind of industrial ecosystem that Rolls-Royce SMR and its partners hope to create around small modular reactors. The project is still in its early stages, and the technology has yet to be proven commercially at scale. But the investment in the Newcastle factory, the creation of hundreds of jobs, and the return of large steam turbine manufacturing to Britain all suggest that the SMR programme is beginning to generate tangible industrial activity.
For the UK, the announcement touches on several important themes at once: the push to re-shore critical manufacturing, the desire to create skilled jobs in regions with strong industrial traditions, the need to strengthen energy security, and the ambition to develop a domestic nuclear supply chain. Whether those ambitions are fully realised will depend on the project’s execution over the coming years. For now, however, the decision to manufacture steam turbines in Newcastle gives the Rolls-Royce SMR programme a clearer domestic anchor and a more visible role in Britain’s industrial and energy future.
TITradingView Ideas16 Sept
The Guardian•Cath Clarke17 Sept
