Holtec and EDF submit UK plan for four SMR-300 reactors at Cottam
Holtec and EDF filed a formal Cottam bid for up to four SMR-300s, adding a joint venture and a clearer route toward deployment.
Holtec International and EDF submitted a formal UK bid on June 23, asking the government to back up to four SMR-300 units at the former Cottam coal station in Nottinghamshire and signing Heads of Terms to create a joint venture for the project. Holtec's proposal fits the UK’s Advanced Nuclear Framework and could ultimately amount to about 1.3 GW of capacity.
Cottam had already been positioned for a wider redevelopment in September 2025, when Holtec, EDF UK and Tritax Management planned to pair SMR-300 reactors with data centres at the former power station. The East Midlands Combined County Authority estimates the redevelopment at £11 billion and expects thousands of construction jobs and long-term skilled roles across the East Midlands. The site ran as a coal plant before it shut down in 2019, and its cooling towers were brought down in 2025.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales completed Step 2 of the Holtec SMR-300 Generic Design Assessment on March 31, 2026, after work that began in August 2024, and found no fundamental safety, security, safeguards or environmental protection shortfalls that would block future deployment in Great Britain. Holtec intends to stop at Step 2, meaning no Design Acceptance Confirmation will be issued under the current two-step process.
Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as the preferred bidder in June 2025, Great British Energy - Nuclear signed a contract with it in April 2026, and Wylfa in North Wales was confirmed in November 2025 as the first UK site for three units.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
