Škoda JS to supply control rod drives for Rolls-Royce SMR's reactors

Škoda JS is part of the Czech majority state-owned CEZ Group, which also has a 20% stake in UK-based Rolls-Royce SMR.

Earlier this year Škoda JS and Doosan Enerbility were selected by Rolls-Royce SMR for pre-production work for key components - including the reactor pressure vessel - with work which encompasses "early supplier engagement, design finalisation and manufacturing readiness to support the delivery of first power at the earliest possible date".

The Pilsen-based firm has now added the contract for the control rod drive mechanisms, which are key bits of equipment in a nuclear reactor, ensuring the precise movement of the control rods which control the reactor’s power, ensuring its safe operation. According to CEZ "each drive is a unique electromechanical linear motor, almost eight metres long and weighing 450 kg, capable of safely controlling the nuclear reactor in all operating modes".

Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček said: "Small modular reactors are a technological opportunity for our companies with global reach. The contracts that Škoda JS has already concluded with Rolls-Royce SMR are clear proof of this. Small modular reactors will not only strengthen the energy security and self-sufficiency of our country, but will also create new jobs and create opportunities for follow-up investments."

The first of Rolls-Royce SMR's 470 MWe small modular reactors is due to be built in North Wales in the UK, with the first in the Czech Republic to be built at Temelín, with an expected operational date "in the second half of the 2030s" and with five or six more units to follow across three sites.

Rolls-Royce SMR CEO Chris Cholerton said: "Škoda JS has proven that it is one of the few companies in Europe capable of providing one of the most important components of our power plant … our cooperation shows the clear benefits that this project brings to industrial companies."

Daniel Beneš, Chairman and CEO of ČEZ, said: "A global supply chain for small modular reactors is now being formed, and it is essential for our industrial companies to act quickly and now. This opportunity is unique. If they manage to get involved in this chain right from the start, they can win attractive contracts for the next decades. Škoda JS now faces the task of developing a prototype directly for small modular reactors so that it can subsequently supply them to Rolls-Royce SMR all over the world."

Background

The Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MWe design based on a small pressurised water reactor. It will provide consistent baseload generation for at least 60 years. Ninety percent of the SMR - measuring about 16 metres by 4 metres - will be built in factory conditions, limiting activity on-site primarily to assembly of pre-fabricated, pre-tested, modules which significantly reduces project risk and has the potential to drastically shorten build schedules.

In October 2024, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by ČEZ to deploy up to 3 GW of electricity in the Czech Republic, and ČEZ took a 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR. The plan is for the first SMR to be deployed in the area of the Temelín site (which already has two gigawatt-scale VVER-1000 units), with further projects being developed for coal-fired power plant sites, including Tušimice.

In June 2025, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as the UK government's preferred technology for the country's first SMR project. In November, the UK government announced that Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, North Wales, would be the site to host the three Rolls-Royce SMR units. It said the site - where a Magnox plant is being decommissioned - could potentially host up to eight SMRs. A final investment decision is expected to be taken in 2029.

Škoda JS has long experience in the construction and servicing of nuclear power plants, including manufacturing 21 VVER-440 reactors and three VVER-1000 reactors, as well as supplying engineering, equipment and servicing for nuclear power plants, research reactors and spent nuclear fuel storage facilities in Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, France, Germany, the USA, Austria, Finland, Belgium, the UK, China and Armenia.