The joint venture – Litmus Nuclear – will deliver “independent assurance and expert technical guidance across critical areas, including design, safety, engineering, construction, and commissioning”.
The agreement has a maximum duration of 14 years and aims to ensure the programme meets all regulatory requirements and help the state-owned Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) to secure a final investment decision for the UK’s first small modular reactors (SMRs) at the site on the island of Anglesey off the North Wales coast.
Loren Jones, senior vice president and head of Amentum’s Energy & Environment-International business, said: “This award recognises Amentum’s expertise to accelerate the global expansion and revitalisation of nuclear energy. It also underscores our central role in advancing the UK’s nuclear ambitions, complementing our ongoing work at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C.”
Mick Gornall, Managing Director, Cavendish Nuclear, which is part of Babcock International, said, “We’re delighted to be awarded this landmark Owner’s Engineer role. The appointment reflects the strong and diverse capability within Cavendish Nuclear and the scale at which Babcock can deliver across the nuclear enterprise. The skills, experience and knowledge of our colleagues will bring assurance to the UK’s first-of-a-kind SMR programme and will provide many more opportunities to build long-term, meaningful careers for a wide range of people.”
Simon Roddy, CEO of GBE-N added: “As we continue to bring together the coalition required to deliver the UK’s first SMRs, I’m pleased to welcome Amentum and Cavendish Nuclear to the team. Their valuable expertise will be instrumental in assuring GBE-N’s project moves with pace and determination, and I look forward to working with them over the coming years.”
In January Amentum, which is US-headquartered but with more than 6,000 employees in the UK, was appointed as programme delivery partner for Rolls-Royce SMR small modular reactor projects, beginning with those in the UK and the Czech Republic.
Background
The Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MWe design based on a small pressurised water reactor. It will provide consistent baseload generation for at least 60 years. Ninety percent of the SMR – measuring about 16 metres by 4 metres – will be built in factory conditions, limiting activity on-site primarily to assembly of pre-fabricated, pre-tested, modules which significantly reduces project risk and has the potential to drastically shorten build schedules.
In June 2025 Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as the UK government’s preferred technology for the country’s first SMR project. A final investment decision is expected to be taken in 2029. In November the UK government announced that Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, North Wales, would be the site to host the three Rolls-Royce SMR units. It said the site – where a Magnox plant is being decommissioned – could potentially host up to eight SMRs.
In October 2024, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by CEZ to deploy up to 3 GW of electricity in the Czech Republic, and CEZ took at 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR.
