Rolls-Royce SMR has announced plans to open a new £12m manufacturing development centre in Derby, marking a significant step forward in the UK’s ambitions to establish a factory-built small modular reactor (SMR) industry.
The new Pioneer Works facility, due to open in the fourth quarter of 2026, will serve as the company’s first dedicated manufacturing development centre. It will establish the build processes, precision assembly techniques and advanced testing required to support the deployment of Rolls-Royce SMR’s reactor fleet in the UK, Czechia and Sweden.
Operating as a non-nuclear site, Pioneer Works will focus on specialist engineering and manufacturing projects that underpin the successful delivery of the company’s first power plants. The facility will also develop and validate the manufacturing methods needed to assemble the primary circuit and other high-integrity components at the core of the reactors.
The investment is expected to create and sustain around 40 highly skilled long-term roles as the site ramps up, spanning advanced engineering, welding, testing, precision assembly and manufacturing development. It will also become Rolls-Royce SMR’s first dedicated training centre, helping develop the skilled workforce needed to support future reactor production.
Ruth Todd CBE, Operations and Supply Chain Director at Rolls-Royce SMR, said the facility would play a central role in transforming how nuclear projects are delivered.
“Pioneer Works will be at the centre of our ambition to transform the way nuclear projects are delivered, creating highly skilled jobs, supporting the wider supply chain and harnessing British engineering know-how to drive forward the next generation of nuclear power.
“I’m also incredibly proud that this facility will act as our first training centre to create a future workforce which will help build Rolls-Royce SMR’s ‘factory-built’ nuclear power plants around the world.”
The Derby site will operate alongside Rolls-Royce SMR’s existing EXPERI facility at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which will continue developing the company’s modular manufacturing approach. Together, the two facilities are intended to support the transition from design and prototype manufacture through to full modular assembly and commercial deployment.
The announcement follows a series of major milestones for the business. In April, Rolls-Royce SMR signed a contract with Great British Energy – Nuclear to begin site-specific design and delivery work for the UK’s first SMRs at Wylfa. The company has also entered into an early works agreement with Czech energy company ČEZ covering licensing, permitting and site-specific design activities.
Local MPs welcomed the investment, highlighting Derby’s established engineering heritage and advanced manufacturing capabilities.
Catherine Atkinson MP, Member of Parliament for Derby North, said: “Derby is winning investment because we have the skills, engineering expertise and supply chain to deliver work of national importance.”
Baggy Shanker MP, Member of Parliament for Derby South, added that the investment would help create highly skilled jobs while providing new training, apprenticeship and career opportunities for local people.
The investment comes as Rolls-Royce SMR continues to build momentum both at home and overseas. Earlier this month, the company secured a landmark contract to supply three Small Modular Reactors for Sweden’s first new nuclear power plant in more than 40 years, adding to recent agreements in the UK and Czechia. The new Derby facility will provide the manufacturing capability and skilled workforce needed to support that growing international order book.
The Pioneer Works announcement reinforces Derby’s position as one of the UK’s leading advanced manufacturing and nuclear engineering hubs while strengthening the domestic capability needed to deliver the next generation of low-carbon energy infrastructure.
For more articles like this, visit our Leadership channel