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Privately funded small modular reactor programme broadens Britain’s nuclear ambitions
7/7/2026
News
Plans for a privately financed fleet of 14 small modular reactors (SMRs) using GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 design mark the latest step in broadening the range of technologies and commercial models in Britain’s emerging SMR market.
SGE, a European developer and investor in small modular reactors (SMRs), has applied under the UK’s Advanced Nuclear Framework to develop a privately funded fleet of 14 reactors across three UK sites.
The programme, based on GE Vernova Hitachi’s 300MWe-capacity BWRX-300 reactor design, would have a combined capacity of 4.2GW. According to SGE, it could generate enough electricity to meet around 11% of UK power demand, equivalent to powering almost eight million homes for at least 60 years.
Under the plans, one site would host six SMRs, with two further locations accommodating four reactors each. SGE has established SGE SMR UK Limited as its dedicated UK project company.
The announcement follows recent progress by Rolls-Royce SMR, which earlier this year signed an agreement with Great British Energy – Nuclear to develop three reactors at Wylfa in North Wales. The two projects illustrate how Britain’s emerging SMR market is beginning to encompass different reactor technologies and commercial models.
The plans also build on regulatory progress already achieved by the BWRX-300. In December 2025, the reactor design completed Step 2 of the UK’s Generic Design Assessment, with the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales concluding that there were no fundamental safety, security, safeguards or environmental protection shortfalls that would prevent its deployment in Great Britain.
The proposal also differs from the government’s first SMR deployment programme, with SGE describing its approach as privately financed and commercially led, with no costs falling on consumers before the reactors begin operating.
In addition, it would be the UK’s first nuclear fission reactors featuring a boiling water reactor (BWR) design, which was created in the US, where it found greatest popularity. Unlike pressurised water reactors, these do not separate the reactor vessel from the steam turbine, so water boils in the reactor and is sent directly to the turbine.
Programme partners include GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Samsung C&T, Laing O’Rourke, Aecon, Fermi Development and Etara.
Construction of the first BWRX-300 reactor is already under way in Canada, where the design is expected to become the first SMR to enter commercial operation in an OECD country.
Rafał Kasprów, SGE Chief Executive, said: ‘Standardisation, repetition, modularisation and a fleet deployment strategy are the most effective ways to deliver new nuclear projects successfully, reducing costs, construction risk, and delivery times.’
SGE expects the project to enter the Advanced Nuclear Pipeline later this year, with site selection and government support discussions planned for the first half of 2027. Subject to approvals, the company is targeting first commercial operation in 2034.
