Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement (a) it and (b) its enterprise agencies have had with Rolls-Royce plc over a Scottish bid for the Heavy Pressure Vessel Factory that the company is proposing to develop as part of its UK Small Modular Reactor programme.
To the best of my knowledge neither Government nor Government enterprise agencies have engaged with Rolls Royce on this particular matter.
I would be delighted to meet with representatives from Rolls Royce to discuss this in more detail should they wish to do so.
To be clear, however, the Scottish Government’s position on traditional nuclear fission energy (which comprises small modular reactors) has not changed. We don’t support the building of any new nuclear power stations in Scotland and therefore it will not feature as part of our wider energy strategy review.