I have to assume lessons have/are been learned, and current builds are devloping/maintaining skills. Also, if the Australian sub is an Astute variant that current experience in the UK can be passed on to Australia.
The plan is for most of the boat to be built in Australia, so the only issue I can see is the need for Rolls Royce to be producing both PWR2s and 3s - unless something radical like the the PWR2 being built in Australia but being shipped to RR for fueling is adopted. That, though, would probably be more trouble than it’s worth.
Australia wouldn't want the PWR2. The UK doesn't want the PWR2 and is quite happy to move on to the PWR3 which is "based on a US design (the US Navy's S9G) but using UK reactor technology".
I seem to remember reading that Rolls Royce was actually one of the bottlenecks in the UK sub program and that they were already flat out producing PWR3s for Dreadnought, Astute and the follow on SSN(R), not sure what the latest is though.
We'd be talking PWR-2b and it's a change in standards and regulations that's driven adoption of a UK development of concepts on S9G. The passive cooling design is the key, as it removes another point of failure......a very British approach.
Which is a much more accurate description of PWR-3.
RR is ramping up staff for the SMR effort, which is fairly relevant to any expansion of submarine reactors.
'Flat out' likely refers to the deliberately slow production in order to keep staff and facilities going. No one wants a repeat of the 'peace dividend'.
Astute production has been slowed down to what is felt a practical limit to keep the industry alive.
Dutton's intervention is more a sign of politicking and utilising standing prejudices than being informed. At best it's part of the chatter to confuse prior to the formal announcement, at worst it's just blatant self promotion.