Vattenfall's decision to proceed with small modular reactors (SMRs), rather than large reactors, for its major newbuild program is a key moment for advocates of the smaller design.
A Vattenfall contract would be a major boost for whichever SMR vendor wins it: Rolls-Royce SMR or GE Vernova.
Vattenfall has decided to proceed with SMRs rather than large reactors for its planned new nuclear plant in Sweden as Swedish industry consortium Industrikraft and the Swedish government both contemplate taking stakes in the project company. Vattenfall now plans to deploy 1.5 GW of nuclear capacity on the Varo Peninsula, home to two operating large reactors, in the form of five GE Vernova BWRX-300 SMRs or three Rolls-Royce SMRs. Beyond that, it is looking forward to at least a further 1 GW of new nuclear capacity, while other developers advance separate new nuclear ambitions in Sweden.
