Last Energy enters nuclear site licensing phase in the UK
Power Engineering International
Posted on: 17 February 2025
Last Energy announced it has entered the nuclear site licensing process for its four 20MWe microreactors in South Wales.
US-based micro-nuclear technology developer Last Energy announced confirmation from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the UK’s nuclear regulator, that it has formally entered the nuclear site licensing (NSL) process for its plans to develop four 20MWe microreactors in South Wales.
ONR’s notice, effective 1 January 2025, follows seven months of early engagement with Last Energy and is a critical accelerator for the company’s deployment progress in the UK.
In December 2024, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) issued Last Energy a $103.7 million letter of intent confirming the Bank’s willingness to finance end-to-end delivery of the company’s first microreactor in South Wales.
The company obtained site control thereafter and in January 2025, Last Energy accepted a grid connection offer from National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) for 22MW of export capacity.
Have you read?
Britain to accelerate SMR deployment
Robot completes radioactivity detection tests at UK’s Sellafield
Last Energy aims to deliver its first microreactor in Wales in 2027, pending the licensing, permitting, and planning processes.
“We are pleased to officially enter site licensing with ONR, as we continue to make tangible progress toward the delivery of our first microreactor in Wales,” said Michael Jenner, CEO of Last Energy UK, a subsidiary of Last Energy. “This is another critical milestone necessary to unlock nuclear power at scale in the UK, which will help meet growing energy demand and alleviate grid restraints. We appreciate ONR’s efforts during early engagement, which has allowed us to accelerate through the process swiftly. We also very much welcome that ONR has applied proportionality during their engagement with us, as this is a critical enabler for realising the benefits of SMRs.”
Today’s announcement comes on the heels of a series of landmark policy reforms introduced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on 6 February to streamline nuclear planning and accelerate deployment in the UK.
Among the changes being made, micro-nuclear plants will now be accounted for in the planning process and siting eligibility will be dramatically widened to make deployment possible “anywhere across England and Wales.”
Last Energy’s South Wales project now becomes the first new site for a commercial nuclear power reactor to enter licensing since the Torness Nuclear Power Station in Scotland in 1978.
