Nuclear plant designs meet safety criteria

The four potential designs for the UK’s new nuclear power plants have been approved by safety experts from the nuclear regulators, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency (EA).

The designs were submitted to the government by four different private contractors: AECL; EdF/Areva; General Electric/Hitatchi; and Westinghouse. If the claims in the submissions are correct, then all four designs satisfy security, safety and environmental critera.

The validity of the claims will be assessed at a later date. Overall, the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) approval process will take over three years to reach a final conclusion.

The EA’s head of radioactive substance regulation, Joe McHugh, said: “We demand that any new nuclear power stations meet high standards of safety, security and environment protection.

“As we begin the detailed assessment step of GDA, the reactor vendors and the regulators have much work to do before we will be able to decide whether these designs can meet those high standards.

“We hope that the public will continue to take the opportunity to contribute to our assessments by providing their comments on the designs.”

The HSE’s head of nuclear, Mike Weightman, said: “Our job is to protect people and society from the hazards presented by the nuclear industry.

“As new nuclear power stations are being considered for the UK, it is vital for regulators to get involved with potential designs at the earliest stage - where regulatory assessments can have most influence - so that we can ensure that the existing high standards of nuclear safety and security in the UK are being maintained and improved.”