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Rolls Royce panicking, as UK government and investors are lukewarm about its small nuclear reactor project?

Rolls-Royce boss Tufan Erginbilgic: Britain must win nuclear race. The
boss of Rolls-Royce is this week expected to urge the Government to throw
its full weight behind ground-breaking British nuclear technology developed
by the country’s flagship engineering giant. Chief executive Tufan
Erginbilgic is pushing through a whirlwind transformation of the company.
He will on Tuesday unveil his blueprint for restoring Rolls to its former
glory. ‘Turbo-Tufan’ will be highlighting his company’s mini nuclear
power plants – known as SMRs, standing for small modular reactors.

Erginbilgic is a big believer in the SMR project, which is based on
technology honed for use in submarines over the last three decades.

Rolls-Royce, which has so far benefited from about £200 million
of Government backing for its work, is ahead of other companies in the UK
and abroad. But Erginbilgic is understood to be concerned that competitors
will catch up if the Government does not give its full-throated support.
There are also fears that potential overseas buyers of the technology are
hesitant because of the British Government’s apparently lukewarm attitude
towards Rolls-Royce’s technology.

Instead of backing Rolls outright, the
Government launched a competition to select an SMR provider, pitting the
company against foreign rivals. Six firms were selected for the next phase
of the competition last month, including EDF of France and a joint venture
between the US’s GE and Hitachi of Japan. Erginbilgic is likely to argue
that the process should be speeded up.

 This is Money 25th Nov 2023

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-12790079/Rolls-Royce-boss-Tufan-Erginbilgic-Britain-win-nuclear-race.html

November 27, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, UK