Cranberry Township, PA-based Westinghouse announced Wednesday it had signed an agreement with United Kingdom-based Community Nuclear Power, Ltd. (CNP) to deploy a fleet of AP300 small modular reactors.
Officials said the agreement will cover four AP300 SMRs in the North Teesside region of Northeast England, a region currently experiencing significant economic and industrial growth. That growth, officials said, is increasing demand for carbon-free, reliable electricity. CNP and Westinghouse, along with other CNP partners, are working to fully license a site for the project by 2027. The project is privately funded, the company said.
“This project brings together Westinghouse’s proven technology and mature supply chain with our depth of expertise in nuclear program delivery, in a region that is transforming its industrial landscape. We are delighted to be working with Westinghouse in support of private deployment in North Teesside,” Paul Foster, Community Nuclear Power’s CEO, said.
The project is being deployed in accordance with the UK Government Alternative Routes to Market for New Nuclear Projects. The Westinghouse and CNP collaboration is supported and will complement Westinghouse’s participation in Great British Nuclear (GBN) SMR technology selection process. Further, the collaboration will expand scale for workforce, training and supply chain localization, officials said.
“We want to thank Community Nuclear Power for this tremendous opportunity to deliver our advanced, proven AP300 SMR technology to the U.K. market,” said David Durham, Westinghouse President, Energy Systems. “Our AP300 SMR is ideally suited not just to support grid generation, but also for industrial sites for generating clean and secure energy and the ability to produce hydrogen, e-fuels, desalination and district heating.”
The AP300 is a small modular reactor based on advanced large Generation III+ AP1000 reactor technology. Unlike other SMRs under development, Westinghouse’s AP300 uses AP1000 engineering, components and supply chain, which enables streamlined licensing and utilizes available technical skills. Westinghouse said it is confident that the first AP300 operating unit will be available in the early 2030s.