The Czech and South Korean companies’ work will encompass “early supplier engagement, design finalisation and manufacturing readiness to support the delivery of first power at the earliest possible date”.
Ruth Todd, Rolls-Royce SMR’s Operations and Supply Chain Director, said: “These are some of the most important long-lead items in nuclear plant construction. Forming strategic relationships now ensures these critical components can be designed for manufacture, reducing project risk and enabling on-time delivery.
“A dual-supply approach strengthens Rolls-Royce SMR’s supply chain and ensures delivery certainty. Both Škoda JS and Doosan Enerbility have long and impressive records of delivering key nuclear island components, including reactor pressure vessels and other related equipment at the heart of nuclear power stations – already operating and under construction around the world.”
The first two projects to feature Rolls-Royce SMRs are set to be at Wylfa, in North Wales in the UK, and at Temelin in the Czech Republic. ČEZ is also developing projects on the sites of existing coal-fired power plants and is also examining other locations.
Rolls-Royce SMR said it was “committed to maximising localisation for its customers in the UK and the Czech Republic. Significant supply chains will be built to deliver this important work and Rolls-Royce SMR is actively working to connect potential suppliers with these opportunities – including the supply of forgings”.
Škoda JS is owned by Czech nuclear power plant operator ČEZ, which is also a 20% shareholder in Rolls-Royce SMR. Tomáš Pleskač, a member of the ČEZ board of directors, said: “The reactor set, including the reactor pressure vessel, is one of the key parts of a nuclear power plant. Škoda JS from Plzeň has many years of experience in manufacturing these components. The order from Rolls-Royce SMR will further deepen its nuclear know-how and strengthen its position on the global market. The selection of suppliers for the nuclear island components follows the recent signing of an engineering contract between Rolls-Royce SMR and ČEZ.”
Karel Bednář, Chairman and CEO of Škoda JS, said: “This is a fundamental shift. It means that our company, in global competition as a purely Czech manufacturer, has joined the global supply chain of the rapidly growing nuclear energy sector and will play a crucial role in SMR projects not only in the Czech Republic. For our team, this is a very prestigious matter and confirmation of the company’s ability to ensure cooperation in the development and production of the reactor and other SMR parts for Rolls-Royce. This specifically concerns the reactor pressure vessels, their internal parts, the reactor lid, volume compensators and other heavy components.”
According to a report in Doosan Enerbility has said the partnership with Rolls-Royce SMR will provide a significant chance to expand its role in the global SMR supply chain.
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 October 2024, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by ČEZ to deploy up to 3 GW of electricity in the Czech Republic, and ČEZ took a 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR. The plan is for the first SMR to be deployed in the area of the Temelín site (which already has two gigawatt-scale VVER-100 units), with futher projects being developed for coal-fired power plant sites, including Tušimice.
In June 2025, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as the UK government’s preferred technology for the country’s first SMR project. 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. A final investment decision is expected to be taken in 2029.
