Škoda JS Named Sole Supplier of Control Rod Drives for Rolls-Royce SMR

Czech manufacturer Škoda JS has been named sole supplier of control rod drive mechanisms for Rolls-Royce SMR’s 470 MWe small modular reactor, the two companies said in an announcement reported September 23. The agreement builds on earlier work in which Škoda JS and South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility were selected for pre-production of other key reactor components, including the reactor pressure vessel.

A Supplier That Is Also a Shareholder

The relationship between the two companies runs deeper than a typical vendor contract. Škoda JS is part of CEZ Group, the majority Czech state-owned utility that also holds a 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR itself, making CEZ both an equity partner in the reactor design and, through its subsidiary, a manufacturer of one of its safety-critical components. Control rod drive mechanisms are electromechanical linear motors, in this case roughly 8 metres long and weighing about 450 kg, that precisely move the rods controlling a reactor’s power output and are central to its safe shutdown capability.

Rolls-Royce SMR’s reactor design is a 470 MWe pressurised water reactor built around a modular approach, with roughly 90% of components manufactured in factories rather than assembled on-site, intended to shorten construction schedules and standardize quality control across multiple builds. The company says each unit is designed for a 60-year operating life.

Two Programmes, One Supply Chain

The agreement covers components for both of Rolls-Royce SMR’s active deployment tracks. In the UK, a contract signed with Great British Energy – Nuclear in April cleared the way for three Rolls-Royce SMR units at Wylfa in North Wales, a project expected to generate at least 1,400 MW combined and support thousands of jobs, with GBE-N’s total contract awards since 2023 now approaching £900 million. In the Czech Republic, Škoda JS’s home market, the first units are planned for the Temelín site, with an additional site at Tušimice under consideration, and Czech officials have pointed to deployment in the second half of the 2030s.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček described small modular reactors as “a technological opportunity for our companies with global reach,” framing the Škoda JS deal as part of a broader push to position Czech industry as a components exporter for SMR programmes beyond its own borders, not just a customer for UK-designed reactors. The deal fits a wider pattern of governments racing to build domestic SMR supply chains, echoing steps such as the recent Turkey-US agreement to study SMR deployment and the growing interest from defence-linked companies moving into energy technology.

Still Years From First Concrete

Both programmes remain in early stages relative to actual construction. The UK’s final investment decision for the Wylfa units is anticipated in 2029, and first concrete could follow as early as 2027 if licensing stays on schedule; the Czech deployment at Temelín is not expected before the second half of the 2030s. The sole-supplier status announced this week secures Škoda JS’s role in the programme’s supply chain well before either site breaks ground, giving the company years to scale up production of a component that will be needed across potentially five or six additional SMR units already sketched out across the two countries’ three planned sites.

Sources

• World Nuclear News, “Škoda JS to supply control rod drives for Rolls-Royce SMR’s,” Sept. 23, 2026 — sole-supplier agreement, component specs, CEZ ownership stake, ministerial quote
• Great British Energy – Nuclear / GOV.UK, “UK SMR programme at Wylfa hitting target for British contracts” — Wylfa contract value and project scale
• World Nuclear News, “Contract signed for delivery of UK’s first SMRs,” April 2026 — Wylfa FID timeline, unit count

Illustrative image. Photo: Rosatom Digital Press Office/АО «Аккую Нуклеар», CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source