Ineos in talks on nuclear reactor tie-up with Rolls-Royce

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s chemicals empire could become one of the first businesses to run on one of Rolls-Royce’s mini-nuclear power stations. 

Ineos is in talks with Rolls-Royce about building one of the latter’s small modular reactors (SMRs) at its Grangemouth chemicals refinery, the Sunday Telegraph reported. 

It comes as Rolls-Royce is urging the Government to start formal negotiations over the funding for SMRs, which it wants to build in England or Wales over the next decade. 

In the long term, SMRs could boost Britain’s energy security and bring down the cost of power. 

Great British Nuclear, a government advisory panel, has estimated it will cost £200billion for the UK to meet its goal of generating 24 gigawatts from nuclear sources by 2050. 

Rolls-Royce wants to make around 30 SMRs, but needs customers in advance to fund their development. 

Ratcliffe has previously courted controversy over his backing of fracking in Britain.