The move expands Europe’s small modular reactor (SMR) race, with a UK-designed system securing a major deal.
Sweden has chosen Rolls-Royce SMR to supply three small modular reactors (SMRs) for a new nuclear project on the Värö Peninsula near the Ringhals site.
The decision was announced by Viderberg Kraft, a nuclear venture backed by utility company Vattenfall and industrial partner Industrikraft.
The project marks Sweden’s first new nuclear build in more than 40 years, with detailed planning now set to begin for reactors based on modular technology.
The project involves three small modular reactor (SMR) units based on the UK-designed Rolls-Royce SMR platform, which will be constructed on Sweden’s west coast.
If completed, the project would mark one of the most significant additions to Sweden’s nuclear capacity in decades, reviving a sector long limited by political and regulatory constraints.
The deal also strengthens Rolls-Royce’s position as a leading contender in Europe’s emerging SMR market. The company now holds or is progressing structured agreements across three countries—Sweden, the UK, and Czechia—making it the only SMR developer with multi-country deployment commitments at this stage.
In the UK, the state-backed initiative Great British Energy and nuclear partners are advancing early deployment plans at Wylfa in North Wales. Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, utility ČEZ Group has signed early-stage agreements for SMR deployment at Temelín, with plans to expand capacity to several gigawatts and potentially take an equity stake in the Rolls-Royce SMR program.
The Sweden announcement comes shortly after a trilateral nuclear technology agreement between the UK National Nuclear Laboratory, Japan’s Japan Atomic Energy Agency, and Rolls-Royce.
The agreement is designed to accelerate development of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology and next-generation TRISO fuel, a coated-particle fuel engineered for high thermal resilience and enhanced passive safety.
While the current Rolls-Royce SMR design is based on a 470 MWe pressurized water reactor, the HTGR initiative represents a parallel advanced-fuel pathway that could expand the company’s future reactor portfolio.
The TRISO fuel concept itself builds on early British coated-particle research programs, which helped lay the foundation for modern accident-tolerant nuclear fuel systems.
Rolls-Royce is also involved in U.S. defence-related nuclear innovation through its participation in BWX Technologies’ Project Pele, supplying power conversion systems for a mobile microreactor programme aimed at demonstration later this decade.
Despite a growing pipeline of contracts and international partnerships, industry analysts caution that most SMR projects remain in pre-construction or early development stages.
In June 2025, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as the preferred technology in the Great British Nuclear (GBN) small modular reactor competition. The UK’s next generation of nuclear power stations is expected to be designed and built by the British firm, supporting domestic supply chains and contributing to economic growth.
The selection of Rolls-Royce SMR over several international competitors marks the culmination of a two-year evaluation process by Great British Nuclear (GBN), which assessed leading small modular reactor technologies from around the world.
Site preparation in the UK is already underway, but—as with much of Europe’s nuclear revival—timelines remain dependent on regulatory approvals, supply chain readiness, and the availability of long-lead nuclear-grade components.
Sweden’s decision is therefore seen less as an isolated project and more as part of a broader European shift toward SMRs as a strategic energy and security asset, even though actual reactors are still likely years away from delivering electricity to the grid.
