The UK's first small modular reactor build has a construction price tag emerging. Great British Energy - Nuclear (GBE-N), the government-owned developer set up under the SMR programme, has issued a preliminary market engagement notice for an early works package at Wylfa on Anglesey with an indicative value of £730 million to £1.1 billion.
What's in the package
The scope covers civil engineering, site infrastructure, buildings, mechanical and electrical work, and earthworks at the Ynys Môn site. GBE-N expects the contract to run from June 2028 to June 2034, with an option to extend to June 2037. A formal tender is currently targeted for March 2027. GBE-N confirmed Wylfa as the site for the UK's first SMR fleet in November 2025 after decades of failed reactor proposals on the same headland.
Rolls-Royce SMR sits at the head of the queue
The generation package is separate. Rolls-Royce SMR is the preferred technology vendor for the initial three-unit fleet, which the government has already valued at more than £2.5 billion of public investment. Peak construction of the site is expected to support up to 3,000 jobs.
How it fits the global SMR sprint
Wylfa's timetable puts the UK inside the international SMR race that already includes Sweden's BWRX-300 build and Iowa's Duane Arnold restart-for-Google deal. It also sets up parallel procurement with civil nuclear supply-chain heavyweights — from Balfour Beatty and Skanska on earthworks to Doosan and Sheffield Forgemasters on pressure-vessel components — with detailed procurement briefings to run through the winter. Anglesey's local economy, which relies heavily on the closed Wylfa A site, will hinge on the outcome.
Reporting based on coverage from Construction News, New Civil Engineer and Nation.Cymru.