Sheffield Forgemasters goes nuclear with JV
SOUTH YORKSHIRE manufacturer Sheffield Forgemasters International is working in partnership with NuScale Power to develop small modular nuclear reactors for use in the UK.
Forgemasters will work specifically on the manufacturing techniques needed to develop these SMRs.
It will forge a large civil nuclear reactor vessel head by the end of 2017.
This is part of a programme supported by Innovate UK to help develop solutions for the nuclear industry, for which Forgemasters is ideally placed as the UK’s only large forgemaster.
Sheffield Forgemasters chief executive Graham Honeyman said: “Small Modular Reactors could revolutionise the civil nuclear power industry, by creating more flexible power generation solutions. The efficient factory manufacture of major components will be crucial to seeing them deployed cost-effectively and Sheffield Forgemasters has an unparalleled track record in the production of civil nuclear forgings of this size.
“NuScale’s design is one of the most advanced in the world and this forging project will allow us to prove yet again that UK manufacturing is at the leading edge of global technological advancement.”
Speaking at ResPublica’s Northern Powerhouse conference in Manchester, NuScale Power’s managing director for UK and Europe, Tom Mundy said: “Our vision of seeing the NuScale SMR deployed in, and exported from, the UK can and will only be achieved in partnership with Britain’s renowned engineering and industrial base.
“Sheffield Forgemasters’ skill, expertise and heritage is known the world over. Working together now is I hope the starting point of a lasting relationship that will ultimately see UK-manufactured SMRs generating clean reliable power for the UK grid by the 2020s.”
NuScale currently receives match funding of $217m over five years from the US Department of Energy with designs progressing before a regularly commission.
Its first facility is planned to be in operation in 2024 in the state of Idaho.
The business will be holding a Supplier Day at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield on 13 July.
