Nuclear deal gives Rolls-Royce £2.5bn boost

Almost £2.5 billion was added to the market value of Rolls-Royce after it was selected to build a fleet of mini-nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic, the first deal of its kind in Europe.
Rolls was selected as the preferred supplier for the development and construction of a number of small modular reactors by the Czech government from a shortlist of seven companies. The exact number of SMRs due to be delivered will be announced in the next few weeks.
The contract is a vote of confidence for the London-listed group as it competes for up to £20 billion in UK government funding to roll out Britain’s first small modular reactors.
Great British Nuclear, an arm’s length body established by the previous government, is leading the selection process and is due to whittle down the shortlist of five designs to three or four this month, before announcing the winning bids before the end of the year.
The first small modular reactor is not expected to be up and running before 2035. Unlike conventional plants, small modular reactors can be factory-built, take up the space of one or two football pitches and have a capacity of up to 500 megawatts.
Rolls-Royce has been viewed as a frontrunner in the competition. EDF, of France, and four players from the United States — Holtec, NuScale, Westinghouse and GE Hitachi — also have made the shortlist to deploy their small modular reactor technologies in Britain.
Chris Cholerton, chief executive of Rolls-Royce SMR, said: “This important strategic partnership further strengthens Rolls-Royce SMR’s position as Europe’s leading SMR technology, and will put CEZ [Czech energy group], Rolls-Royce SMR and its existing shareholders at the forefront of SMR deployment.”
The shares closed 29p, or 5.8 per cent, higher at 525p.