Mayor Oliver Coppard welcomed senior representatives of American nuclear energy company, Holtec, to South Yorkshire as the firm looks to select a home for its new Small Modular Reactor (SMR) facility after a shortlisting process of four potential sites around the UK.
Earlier this year, Holtec Britain – who have been working at Sizewell B for over 15 years – shortlisted South Yorkshire as a potential location for its new SMR factory in the UK.
The factory would present a major £1.3bn investment and job creation opportunity.
South Yorkshire is already home to the UK’s largest clean-tech cluster and has unique strengths in SMRs, Hydrogen and Sustainable Aviation. South Yorkshire is aiming to become the natural home for these emerging clean energy sectors and engaging with Holtec on its new UK factory is a key part of this effort.
In May, Rolls Royce SMR chose South Yorkshire to become the home of its new multi-million pound facility which will manufacture and test prototype modules for SMRs, further strengthening the region’s clean tech credentials.
Representatives from Holtec and senior officers from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority visited three potential factory sites in the region. The Mayor and the Holtec delegation also met with senior business representative in the region to gain an insight into the region’s industrial heritage, strengths and potential for future growth.
Oliver Coppard, South Yorkshire’s Mayor, said: “South Yorkshire is already home of the largest clean-tech cluster in the UK and is at the forefront of nuclear tech, hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels development. We’re leading the way on SMRs and have the talent, facilities and supply chains to go even further.
“I was pleased to welcome Baroness Brown and her colleagues from Holtec to South Yorkshire. We had the opportunity to highlight South Yorkshire’s world-class clean-tech and advanced manufacturing assets, and discuss our plans to maximise investment, jobs and supply chain development in this sector.
“Holtec’s plans to build a £1.3bn advanced SMR factory could support hundreds of high-paying jobs and their SMR Learning Academy would help to train the next generation of nuclear experts.
“Given our strengths in clean-tech and plans to lead the green energy transition, we believe we are perfectly suited to partner with Holtec and their project partners, Hyundai E&C and Balfour Beatty, to forge a new future together that benefits our communities and the planet.”
Holtec’s Senior Adviser, Professor Dame Julia King FRS FREng, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, said: “I’d like to thank the Mayor and his team for their gracious hospitality during our visit.
“South Yorkshire has world class higher education institutions, relevant skills base, great leadership, excellent connectivity and a proud history of advanced manufacturing. This really fills us with confidence as we move forward with our assessment of their bid.
“Holtec’s new UK SMR factory, wherever it is located, will be transformative - opening new export opportunities of £30bn over the next ten years. We already have agreements in place with Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Our investment will directly support 1,800 high paying UK jobs and approximately 16,000 in the UK supply chain in the decades to come.”
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