Rolls-Royce is in early-stage talks with potential commercial customers for its planned micro nuclear reactor, a technology it hopes will also provide power for space missions. Jake Thompson, director of novel nuclear and special projects at Rolls-Royce, said the company was exploring opportunities to deploy the reactor “across data centres, mining and remote communities”. Better known for its civil aircraft engines and for building the reactors that have propelled Royal Navy submarines for the past six decades, Rolls-Royce wants to capitalise on its nuclear expertise. With global interest in small reactors growing quickly, the company believes there is a business case for micro reactors for both terrestrial and space applications. “Energy demands are set to increase rapidly — essentially the world will need everything that we can bring to bear,” said Thompson, who has been a nuclear engineer at the company for 18 years. Compared with small modular reactors (SMRs) which are seeing demand from technology groups such as Google to deliver low-carbon electricity for data centres, micro nuclear reactors use different technologies and have a much smaller power output. Their compact size also makes them transportable. For Rolls-Royce, the business is separate from the unit which is looking to build a fleet of SMRs, including in the UK. Rolls-Royce began work on the technology for a micro reactor three and a half years ago, joining forces with the UK Space Agency in 2021 to study how nuclear power could be used as part of space exploration.

Full report : Rolls-Royce is in talks to use its compact nuclear reactors to power data centers and space missions.