A family dynasty in India nicknamed the “Rockefellers” of Uganda has joined forces with General Electric to propose a number of mini-nuclear power reactors for Britain.
The Madhvanis have been in Uganda since the 19th century and are now the head of a conglomerate that includes sugar farming, construction, steel production, hotels, and insurance.
The family gained its nickname for being one of the wealthiest families in Africa with business interests all over the continent.
Madhvani International is the investment company of the family. It now seeks to build a fleet small module reactors in the UK using technology developed by GE/Hitachi.
Madhvani International hopes to expand its SMR technology worldwide through their “Project Quasar” scheme.
Madhvanis propose to use GE-Hitachi BWRX-300SMRs in their power plants. However, the sites have yet to be chosen.
The company plans to install its first reactor before the end this decade. Each reactor can generate up to 300 megawatts.
Madhvani International says it plans to build four reactors, which would total around 1 gigawatt.
Adrian Simper is the former Government chief nuclear advisor, and now works with Madhvanis. He said that the UK was chosen by the firm because it was viewed as the “gold standard for nuclear deployment”.
He said: “First of all, the UK has an open technology market, unlike France for example.
“The second thing is that we have an internationally acclaimed regulatory system, so you can be confident you can deploy the reactor anywhere in the globe.”
Mr Simper said that the total amount of investment proposed has yet to be confirmed, but it is certain to be “billions” of pounds.
The ability of the company, however, to deploy their power plants quickly depends on securing the regulatory approval. This is something that no company has been able to do with an SMR-design to date.
Great British Nuclear (GBN), a government agency, is holding a SMR design contest. The competition will select designs that are supported with public funding. After the winner’s designs have been selected, they will be given sites and contracts for the construction of the first reactors.
It is expected that the result of this competition, in which GE-Hitachi was shortlisted, will be announced by the end of the calendar year.
The change in government in the UK has caused delays before. This led the CEO of Rolls-Royce, to warn this year against further delays.
The new Labour government has stated that it supports SMRs, but it has not confirmed whether or not it will continue the GBN competition within the same timeframes.
Sir Keir’s Starmer, the new Government of Sir Keir Simper, was urged by Mr Simper to provide as much clarity on the regulatory process as possible.
Post Disclaimer