Arup selected for first UK SMR: geotechnical and foundation design lens for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Arup has been appointed by Great British Energy – Nuclear to deliver early-phase foundation engineering and design support for the UK’s first small modular reactor project at Wylfa on Ynys Môn/Anglesey, which will comprise three Rolls-Royce SMR units backed by £2.5bn of UK government funding. Amentum is leading the delivery programme with Turner & Townsend, Hochtief, Mace Consult and Unipart, while LDA Design, TÜV SÜD Nuclear Technologies and Gleeds will cover masterplanning, nuclear safety and cost engineering. Early geotechnical characterisation, nuclear safety integration and site-specific civil design will strongly influence constructability, programme risk and future SMR replication.
Technical Brief
- Early-phase scope explicitly targets foundation engineering, tying nuclear island loads to Wylfa’s site-specific ground conditions.
- Rolls-Royce SMR technology selection fixes key foundation interfaces: reactor building footprints, basemat geometry and load paths.
- Amentum’s programme leadership with Hochtief, Mace Consult and Unipart points to a construction-led delivery model.
- Turner & Townsend’s role indicates early integration of cost, schedule and risk for civils and nuclear infrastructure.
- LDA Design’s masterplanning will need to coordinate SMR units with cooling, grid connection and heavy haul logistics.
- TÜV SÜD Nuclear Technologies’ input should drive nuclear safety case requirements directly into geotechnical and structural design criteria.
- Gleeds’ cost engineering at site-development stage will influence choices between deep foundations, ground improvement and earthworks re-use.
Our Take
With WSP and Mott MacDonald already holding a £25M brief from Great British Energy – Nuclear for SMR environmental and permitting work, Arup’s selection suggests GBE‑N is deliberately spreading key roles across multiple Tier‑1 consultants rather than relying on a single programme integrator.
Locating the first SMR deployment at Wylfa in Ynys Môn/Anglesey aligns with a pattern in our infrastructure coverage where complex nuclear work is steered towards legacy nuclear sites, which typically shortens planning timelines but raises expectations around community benefit and long-term decommissioning strategies.
Among the 716 Infrastructure stories in our database, only a small subset involve nuclear and SMR work in Wales, so this contract positions Arup early in what is likely to become a multi‑decade regional supply chain around Wylfa if the three‑reactor build proceeds as signalled for November 2025.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
