UK regulatory agencies approve Hitachi-GE nuclear reactor

Three UK regulatory agencies – Natural Resources Wales, the Environment Agency and the Office for Nuclear Regulation have approved a Hitachi-GE nuclear reactor following a review process that took five years to complete.

Horizon Nuclear Power submitted the design application for the advanced boiling water reactor it plans to build on the Island of Anglesey in Wales in 2012.

Horizon chief executive officer Duncan Hawthorne called the approval ''a huge milestone for Horizon and a major leap forward for us in bringing much-needed new nuclear power to the UK.''

The company will next submit its application for construction approvals for the project Wylfa Newdd, meaning New Wylfa, as it is called, in 2018.

The project is expected to cost about $16.11 billion to build. The design capacity for the Hitachi-GE ABWR reactor is 2.7 GW and it could be the first of two projects involving the same design.

The company also intends to build a second facility at Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire.

The Hitachi-backed consortium Horizon Nuclear Power hopes to build and operate two of the new reactors, designed by Hitachi, at the sites.

According to the ONR, it was satisfied that Hitachi's designs for an Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) had met regulatory expectations for safety, security and environmental protections. The decision comes after a five-year regulatory process.

"The completion of the generic design assessment of the UK ABWR is a significant step in our regulation of the overall process to construct this type of reactor in the UK, ensuring that the generic design meets the highest standards of safety that we expect in this country," the ONR's chief inspector Mark Foy said.

Describing the news as a "major leap forward" for nuclear in the UK, Duncan Hawthorne, chief executive of Horizon, said, "Nuclear can deliver high volumes of stable low carbon energy, which makes it a vital part of the country's electricity mix and once up and running, both Wylfa Newydd and our Oldbury site will supply clean, reliable power to the UK for decades to come", businessgreen.com reported.