28 Aug (NucNet): The UK’s joint nuclear regulators have completed their initial high level assessment of Hitachi-GE’s UK advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) nuclear power plant design, with the process now due to progress to its next, more detailed stage.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA) said in a statement today that they have not identified “at this stage” any fundamental safety, security or environmental issues that would mean that the UK ABWR is unacceptable for use in the UK.
ONR said it had been able to highlight design modifications that will be required to enhance safety, which is “a significant success so early in the process”.
The statement said there is a considerable amount of work to be undertaken by Hitachi-GE, calling for significant capacity and capability across all of the topic areas for Hitachi-GE.
The regulators concluded that the radiation impact on people from a power station using the UK ABWR would be below relevant UK dose limits and constraints.
“We have not identified any matters at this stage that are obviously unacceptable,” they said.
The regulators plan to complete the design assessment, known as Generic Design Assessment (GDA), in December 2017, subject to Hitachi-GE providing “acceptable and timely submissions”.
Horizon Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of Hitachi, is planning to use the UK ABWR at two nuclear sites, Wylfa in north Wales and Oldbury in Gloucestershire.
The regulators’ reports are online: http://www.onr.org.uk/new-reactors/uk-abwr/reports.htm
