Sheffield Forgemasters: Hopes for thousands of new steel jobs in Sheffield if firm can secure contract

“Sheffield Forgemasters is well placed to help the government deliver SMRs, increasing our energy security as well as helping us reach our climate emissions targets,” said the Labour MP for Sheffield South East.

“Sheffield is the steel city, and I would like to see us produce and assemble the parts needed to deliver SMRs here in the city.

"This would help create thousands of well-paid jobs and boost the local economy.”

Energy Security Minister Andrew Bowie said he “would be delighted” to meet with “anybody who represents an area who wants to invest” in nuclear technologies, when he spoke in the House of Commons earlier this week.

Dominic Ashmore, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: "As the UK’s only manufacturer of large, nuclear-grade castings and forgings, Sheffield Forgemasters is well placed to work with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to deliver on the next generation of nuclear power.”

Back in December 2021, Rolls Royce and Sheffield Forgemasters signed a Memorandum of Understanding, as they looked to determine whether the steelmaker could produce nuclear grade forgings and castings for the SMRs.

It happened five months after the government nationalised Sheffield Forgemasters in a £2.6 deal, to secure the supply of parts that are vital for the Royal Navy’s ships and submarines.

The company, which traces its history back to a blacksmith forge in the 1750s, had been struggling for years as the British steel industry was being undercut by competitors in countries such as China and India.

Unlike conventional nuclear reactors, SMRS are designed to be smaller and far cheaper to build.

Rolls Royce is one of six companies competing for government contracts to build the miniature nuclear reactors. None have been built in the UK yet.

It said one SMR would cost £1.8bn to construct and provide a city the size of Leeds with clean energy for 60 years.

The government said it is planning to award contracts this summer, as it was up to a quarter of all UK electricity to come from nuclear power by 2050.

In December, Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive, Nuclear Industry Association, told MPs China is the only country in the world which has begun operating an SMR. But nuclear experts are constructing another four in Ontario in Canada.

Earlier this month, the Government announced it wants to explore the possibility of building another nuclear power station in the UK as large as Sizewell C, or Hinkley Point in Somerset.

It also announced a commitment to invest £300m in UK-produced high assay low enriched uranium fuel needed to power high-tech new nuclear reactors, which is currently only commercially available in Russia.

But Labour said the roadmap was “two years later” than promised and “still leaves a number of unanswered questions about how the Government intends on turning warm words into practical action”.

Hinkley Point C, which will power six million homes from an expected date of summer 2027, is expected to cost £33bn.

Construction has not begun on Sizewell C – a £20bn nuclear plant that could power another six million homes for 60 years.