The MoD has awarded Rolls Royce a GBP 1.1bn contract to produce new reactor cores for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines and upgrade the plant where they will be built.
The nuclear reactor cores will be used to power the seventh and final Astute Class submarine and the first of the Royal Navy’s next generation of nuclear deterrent submarines, known as the Successor Class.
The investment – which secures 300 jobs at Rolls Royce – will also fund an eleven-year refurbishment of Rolls Royce’s plant at Raynesway in Derby, extending its operating lifetime by more than 40 years.
The contract will see construction of new buildings that will replace existing facilities that have reached the end of their useful life.