Consultation starts on new nuclear power station design
Natural Resources Wales and the Environment Agency are consulting on their assessment of a new nuclear power station design from Hitachi-GE.
The consultation, launched today (Monday, 12 December) looks at Hitachi-GE’s UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (UK ABWR) design. Horizon Nuclear Power propose to build and operate this design at Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey and at Oldbury in South Gloucestershire.
NRW and the Environment Agency work closely with the Office for Nuclear Regulation to assess the acceptability of new nuclear power station designs in a process called Generic Design Assessment (GDA).
This process helps make sure that any new nuclear power stations built in the UK meet high standards of safety, security, environmental protection and waste management. If the design is acceptable, GDA can also help developers to avoid potential cost and time delays during construction.
This consultation sets out the regulators’ findings so far and identifies where Hitachi-GE needs to make further work.
Information from the technical submission and the regulators draft findings will also be used by Horizon as part of their environmental permit applications it intends to make for Wylfa Newydd.
Tim Jones, NRW’s Executive Director for North and Mid Wales, said:
“Our purpose is to ensure that the natural resources of Wales are sustainably maintained, enhanced and used. At Wylfa Newydd we will do this in three ways: assessing the design of the reactors, determining site specific environmental permits and providing advice to other organisations on decisions they need to make. This consultation is the first step in the process.
“It is our job to ensure that any new nuclear power station will meet high standards of environmental protection and waste management, ensuring that our communities are kept safe from environmental harm.”
After the consultation, NRW and the Environment Agency will carefully consider all the consultation responses received, complete their detailed assessment and make a decision about the acceptability of the UK ABWR design.
The consultation is now live at http://naturalresources.wales/
