Friday, 1 August 2025
UK-based Rolls-Royce SMR has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Czech firm Škoda JS to explore the production of key components for a global fleet of small modular reactors.
The agreement is described as the beginning of a strategic partnership, with Rolls-Royce SMR, now 20% owned by the Czech nuclear operator and Škoda JS parent company CEZ, saying that building long-term relationships with Czech suppliers was an important part of plans to deploy up to 3 GW of its units in the country.
Ruth Todd, Rolls-Royce SMR’s Operations & Supply Chain Director, said: “This agreement … demonstrates our commitment to provide local opportunities to the Czech supply chain. Starting collaboration now will help Škoda JS supply its products to the required high standards and allow us to deliver this transformational opportunity together.”
Silvana Jirotková, Director of the SMR Development Department at ČEZ, called it a “significant step in preparing the first Czech small modular reactor. From the beginning, we have emphasised that involving Czech industry in the development and construction of new nuclear sources is our priority, and the cooperation between the British SMR developer and this traditional Pilsen-based company is proof of that”.
František Krček, Škoda JS CEO, said: “We are ready, and we have the significant support of our owner to invest further significant resources in the development of the SMR industry. We also want to involve our engineering capacities in this project in addition to our production capacities.”
Rolls-Royce SMR has also signed a contract with another Czech company, ÚJV Řež, for the analysis, testing, and evaluation of critical SMR components.
Curtiss-Wright
In a separate announcement, Rolls-Royce SMR has also secured a multi-million-pound strategic partnership with Curtiss-Wright’s UK-based nuclear business.
The Dorset business, formerly Ultra Energy, will provide design, qualification, testing and supply of the Non-programmable Diverse Reactor Protection Systems – “safety critical back-up instruments, designed to provide an independent means of shutting down a reactor. They are simple and robust, deploying proven-in-use electronic technology and techniques, while avoiding the use of microprocessors, software or programmable devices.”
Ognjen Starovic, General Manager, Curtiss-Wright, said: “We have a strong UK-based team focused on supporting this partnership and we’re all excited to be part of the Rolls-Royce SMR story. We take great pride in helping to deliver a British SMR, as well as provide our people with new career opportunities and create long-term job growth in the region.”
Ruth Todd said “securing industry-leading expertise will further de-risk our programme by underpinning a critical element of the design”.
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. 90% of the SMR – measuring about 16 metres by 4 metres – will be built in factory conditions, limiting on-site activity 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 this year it was selected as the UK government’s preferred technology for the country’s first SMR project. It is aiming to sign contracts with Rolls-Royce SMR later this year and will form a development company. It will also aim to allocate a site later this year and connect projects to the grid in the mid-2030s. A final investment decision is expected to be taken in 2029.
In October 2024, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by CEZ to deploy up to 3 GW of electricity in the Czech Republic.
