Andy Burnham’s Government held emergency talks with Rolls-Royce last week to press the company into manufacturing parts for its new nuclear reactors in Britain, after it emerged that a Sheffield steelworks could produce some of the components, according to The Mail on Sunday.
The intervention follows anger in May when Rolls-Royce announced it had selected Czech company Skoda and South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility as its two strategic suppliers for its small modular reactors (SMRs). Critics said the decision meant key energy infrastructure would be assembled overseas, depriving British steelmakers of significant contract work.
Rolls-Royce representatives were called in for talks with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Great British Energy, the state-run investment firm, to discuss whether reactor parts could instead be made at Sheffield Forgemasters. Representatives from Great British Energy also visited the steelworks in recent weeks.
One source with knowledge of the situation confirmed the talks took place last week. Another said Rolls-Royce had faced sustained pressure from the Government to source parts from UK firms amid concerns that British manufacturers could be shut out of steelmaking contracts despite the industry being considered a core part of national security.
Sheffield Forgemasters, which is also government-owned, confirmed it is in talks with Skoda and Doosan. Chief executive Gary Nutter said the company was engaged in commercial discussions regarding potential supply of UK forged components directly with Rolls-Royce and through Tier 1 partners. He said Skoda and Doosan were handling pre-production work including for the reactor pressure vessel body, early supplier engagement, design finalisation and manufacturing readiness.
The talks are seen as a reprieve for Britain’s steel industry, which has warned it faces being overwhelmed by foreign competition. Leading steel industry figure Sir Andrew Cook argued it was in the national interest that SMRs be made from British components with a UK industrial base to support them.
Rolls-Royce’s SMR division, which is 20 percent owned by Czech utility firm CEZ, is building the first three SMRs to be installed in the UK and operated by Great British Energy. The reactors are also planned for the Czech Republic and Sweden.
The Government said Great British Energy Nuclear has awarded more than 850 million pounds of contracts to UK-registered firms.
