Environment Agency’s public consultation on reactor design closes

The public consultation on the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of the UK HPR1000 reactor technology, which is planned for use at Bradwell B, closed on Sunday 4 April.

The completed twelve-week consultation, run by the Environment Agency (EA), asked the public for views on the regulator’s preliminary conclusions and assessment reports for the reactor design, which is proposed by General Nuclear System Limited (GNSL), a joint venture between CGN and EDF.

Despite the consultation closing, an ongoing separate public comments process about the UK HPR1000 remains open. Outside of the formal consultation and until autumn 2021, members of the public can still find out more about Generic Design Assessment and comment, at the website www.ukhpr1000.co.uk, which is managed by GNSL.

Chris Hall, GDA Officer for General Nuclear System Limited said: “We thank everyone who took the time to engage with the consultation, ask questions and provide comments to the regulator. Our teams supported the EA’s consultation events, and we were very happy to field questions about the UK HPR1000 to help people, locally and nationally, understand the technology and the purpose of GDA.

“We continue to engage with the EA and the other UK regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, to address questions and comments that they raise, and we are confident that they will all be resolved by the end of the process in 2022.”

GDA is separate, but complimentary to, applications to build nuclear power stations at specific sites such as Bradwell. Through the GDA process, regulators can ensure that new nuclear power station designs proposed for the UK will meet high standards of safety, security, and environmental protection.

To find out more about all the different consents and permissions related to building a new nuclear power station at Bradwell B, see the consents and permits webpage.