Holtec Chooses South Yorkshire for £1.5 Billion Nuclear Facility

Holtec, a Florida-based private nuclear company, has selected South Yorkshire as the preferred site for its planned £1.5 billion facility, following an extensive search that included potential locations in the West Midlands, Cumbria, and Teesside. This new factory could generate up to 3,000 high-tech jobs focused on manufacturing components for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), a technology that is anticipated to play a crucial role in the UK’s nuclear revival.

Gareth Thomas, Director of Holtec Britain, expressed enthusiasm about the decision, stating, “Holtec Britain was impressed by the resounding interest in our new SMR factory across the UK and the strong support received from local authorities during our engagements. South Yorkshire overcame stiff competition from other areas of the UK to be our preferred location for our advanced SMR factory.”

One of the key advantages of South Yorkshire is its proximity to Sheffield Forgemasters, a specialist in complex castings necessary for reactor housings. Additionally, the region boasts a skilled workforce with a strong background in heavy engineering, making it an ideal fit for Holtec’s operations.

Oliver Coppard, the Mayor of South Yorkshire, highlighted the region’s rich engineering heritage, stating, “In South Yorkshire, we’re building on hundreds of years of innovation and engineering heritage to create world-leading facilities, skills, and expertise today. We are at the cutting edge of the new nuclear, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation sectors and are proud to be home to the largest cleantech sector in the UK.”

SMRs are being hailed as a potential breakthrough in nuclear technology, designed to reduce both the cost and construction time of nuclear power plants. Unlike traditional large reactors that are built from scratch on-site, SMRs are produced in modules manufactured in factories and then assembled at the site, promising to make nuclear energy production cheaper and faster.

Holtec is one of five companies competing for government funding to develop the UK’s first SMRs, alongside industry giants such as Rolls-Royce, Westinghouse, GE Hitachi, and NuScale. Great British Nuclear, the agency overseeing this initiative, is expected to narrow the shortlist from five to four companies later this month. The final selection of two winners is anticipated either late this year or early 2025, at which point they will be granted sites to commence development.