Rolls-Royce is facing a severe political and industry backlash after outsourcing core components of its multi-billion-pound Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project to South Korea.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The British engineering giant—which recently secured massive UK government backing to build three SMRs at Wylfa in North Wales—selected South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility (alongside Czech firm Škoda) to design and manufacture critical parts for the “nuclear islands.”
The decision has ignited a firestorm across the UK’s political and industrial landscape for three key reasons:
1. The “Buy British” Contradiction
The move came just days after UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves explicitly ordered ministers to “buy British” by favoring domestic companies in energy infrastructure and steel contracts. Critics argue that funneling public money into overseas supply chains directly contradicts the government’s stated industrial strategy.
2. Violating the 70% Domestic Target
Great British Energy–Nuclear has set an ambition for 70% of the SMR project’s supply chain to be British-built.
- The Core Issue: Industry insiders fear that by outsourcing the reactor pressure vessels—described as the “engine of the car”—the highest-value manufacturing is being exported, leaving UK firms with only lower-tier contracts.
- The U-Turn: Critics note that during parliamentary committee hearings, Rolls-Royce heavily marketed itself as “Team UK,” boasting that up to 78% of the reactors could be manufactured domestically.
3. Sidelining UK Manufacturing
Industry bodies, including UK Steel, expressed deep disappointment, arguing that the UK’s nuclear renaissance should build sovereign capability and create domestic jobs. Many expected Rolls-Royce to utilize domestic facilities like Sheffield Forgemasters—which was nationalized in 2021 specifically to safeguard British nuclear manufacturing—rather than sending the work to South Korea.
Rolls-Royce’s Defense
Rolls-Royce SMR has defended its record, declining to guarantee an exact percentage for future UK content but pointing to its historical spending:
“88 per cent of our spend since the business was established [in 2021] has been with UK-based businesses—hundreds of millions of pounds.”
The company maintains that it must procure over 40 million individual components per SMR and remains committed to maximizing UK content “where competitive capability exists.”
With Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee now demanding answers, pressure is mounting on both Rolls-Royce and government ministers to justify how this decision aligns with national targets.
