{"text":[[{"start":8.65,"text":"Rolls-Royce will build small nuclear power plants for Sweden in a major boost for the British engineering group’s ambitions to lead the development of the nascent technology in Europe."}],[{"start":19,"text":"A group led by Rolls-Royce will build three mini reactors for the Scandinavian nation after beating competition from GE Vernova Hitachi. It is the third major contract for Rolls-Royce SMR unit, whose backers include CEZ, the Czech utility, and Qatar Investment Authority."}],[{"start":38,"text":"The latest win for Rolls-Royce SMR follows successful tenders in the UK and the Czech Republic as governments are backing small modular reactors to provide a reliable source of electricity to meet rising demand without carbon emissions."}],[{"start":53.25,"text":"Proponents of the SMRs, which are smaller than the conventional gigawatt-scale plants, say they can be built with fewer delays due to modular construction methods — where they are constructed in a factory and then transported to the final site for assembly — and avoid cost overruns. But critics say there is no certainty this will materialise. "}],[{"start":72.95,"text":"The International Energy Agency has estimated that more than 1,000 SMRs could be built around the world by 2050, with cumulative investment of more than $670bn in the sector. "}],[{"start":86.60000000000001,"text":"Under the deal announced on Monday, Rolls-Royce SMR will deliver three reactors, each designed to deliver 470 megawatts of electricity, next door to the existing Ringhals nuclear plant on Sweden’s west coast. "}],[{"start":101.00000000000001,"text":"Peter Kyle, UK business secretary, said the award was a “major vote of confidence in British innovation and our nuclear industry — we are now at the heart of the European nuclear renaissance alongside our partners in Sweden”."}],[{"start":115.20000000000002,"text":"The so-called Videberg project will strengthen Sweden’s energy system by adding 1,500MWe of capacity — about 6 per cent of the country’s annual power consumption — for more than 60 years."}],[{"start":128.25000000000003,"text":"Anna Borg, chief executive of Sweden’s state-owned utility Vattenfall and a board member of Videberg Kraft, the nuclear power company owned by Vattenfall and Industrikraft, said Rolls-Royce was chosen over GE Vernova Hitachi partly to reduce the risk of geopolitical disruption."}],[{"start":144.35000000000002,"text":"GE Vernova Hitachi is an alliance between the US-based GE Vernova and Japan’s Hitachi."}],[{"start":151.20000000000002,"text":"The reactors will probably be built in the UK and the Czech Republic and then be assembled on site in Sweden, according to one person familiar with the project. "}],[{"start":160.15,"text":"The first unit is expected to start operating in the mid-2030s. "}],[{"start":164.45000000000002,"text":"Sweden’s centre-right government has revived the nuclear industry after previous governments closed down several reactors dating from the 1970s and 1980s after several accidents. "}],[{"start":174.25000000000003,"text":"A parliamentary election in September will probably lead to a change of government led by the centre-left Social Democrats, according to opinion polls, and its potential coalition partners are more sceptical of nuclear power than the parties that form the current government."}],[{"start":195.55000000000004,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781581950_8597.mp3"}