We wanted to bring your attention to a Market Intelligence Gathering exercise Great British Nuclear is undertaking as part of its SMR down-selection process.

Following the announcement in the Powering Up Britain policy paper published in March 2023, Great British Nuclear (GBN) is seeking Expressions of Interest from Small Modular Reactor (SMR) [1]technology suppliers to participate in a Market Intelligence Gathering (MIG) exercise, initially through attendance at an online supplier engagement day. GBN wishes to engage with suppliers that can support the delivery of UK energy security and the government’s nuclear ambitions, as outlined in the British Energy Security Strategy (BESS) and more recently in the Powering Up Britain policy paper.

The MIG exercise will:

  • Allow GBN to inform the market of its intentions with respect to a SMR down-selection process;
  • Gather feedback on the technology down-selection process;
  • Identify and discuss the key delivery, commercial and technical considerations for potential future deployment of SMRs;
  • Develop a more detailed understanding of the current maturity of suppliers’ designs and proposed approaches.

The first stage of the MIG exercise will be an online supplier engagement day to be held on Wednesday 19th April 2023. There will then be a number of further stages including the issuing of a questionnaire for completion by all interested suppliers, which is to be returned in advance of any further engagement sessions between GBN and suppliers.

The supplier engagement day will:

  • Introduce GBN and outline the vision for delivery;
  • Provide an outline of the proposed technology down-selection process, with timelines;
  • Build relationships between GBN and prospective technology suppliers.

How to register your interest:

GBN would like to understand whether your organisation would like to participate in the MIG exercise. Follow the link to an Expression of Interest (EOI) registration form, which we require you to complete and return. As part of the EOI we request that you provide us with some basic information.

EOI responses should be returned by Friday 14th April 2023.  Please note that by responding to the EOI you consent to GBN and DESNZ processing of your personal information for the purposes of engagement on 19th April 2023 and any associated follow up. Use of your personal data is governed by the BEIS Privacy Notice.

Following the receipt and collation of all responses, we shall issue invitations to the online supplier day which will include an agenda.

We look forward to discussing with you how your technology could support the Government’s stated ambition of deploying up to 24GW of nuclear energy by 2050.

Yours Faithfully,

Great British Nuclear[2] and the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero

[email protected]

 

Footnotes

[1] Please note that for the purposes of this Market Intelligence Gathering exercise and the associated supplier engagement day, the definition of Small Modular Reactor should be taken as Advanced Nuclear Technologies (i.e. both Small Modular Reactors and Advanced Modular Reactors). Technology entry criteria for the down-selection process (phase 2 of the competitive process announced as part of the ‘Powering Up Britain policy paper’) may differ from that used here for the Market Intelligence Gathering exercise.

[2] Great British Nuclear is a trading name of British Nuclear Fuels Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with registered number: 05027024.  Registered office address: 1 Victoria Street, London, England, SW1H 0ET


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