In 2011 the Environment Agency published its decision document setting out its detailed assessment of environmental aspects of the UK AP1000 nuclear power station design. It used the comments and issues raised in the 2010 consultation to help inform its decisions. Since December 2011, the Environment Agency has been assessing the further information Westinghouse provided. The environmental regulators have now issued a full SoDA. This supplement to the 2011 decision document explains developments since 2011 and why they have issued a SoDA. The regulators conclude that the environmental aspects of the design would meet the high standards they expect, and have decided to issue a SoDA for the design. The Office for Nuclear Regulation has also published its Design Acceptance Confirmation.
Environment Agency 30th March 2017 read more »
ONR 30th March 2017 read more »
Westinghouse has been granted regulatory approval for its nuclear reactor design to be used in the UK, a day after it filed for bankruptcy protection. The company’s AP1000 design, for use by the Toshiba-led Nugen venture at Moorside, Cumbria, has passed the UK’s Generic Design Assessment process, the Office for Nuclear Regulation said. This means that it “meets expectations on safety, security and environmental protection at this stage of the regulatory process”, the ONR said. The £15 billion Moorside project has been thrown into doubt after Westinghouse was hit by massive cost overruns in the construction of four AP1000 reactors in the United States, plunging Toshiba, which owns 87 per cent of Westinghouse, into financial crisis. Westinghouse, which is based in the US, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday. While Westinghouse insisted the filing would have “no impact” on its role in Nugen, a spokesman for Toshiba told The Times that “the Chapter 11 filings have made the planned supply of AP1000 for the UK project uncertain.” A spokesman for Westinghouse said that continued involvement in Nugen would be included in its turnaround plans, which would be submitted to the bankruptcy court. Tom Samson, Nugen’s chief executive, said: “This news from the UK regulators is further acknowledgement and a testament to the robust safety features and design of the AP1000 reactor, which we will deploy at Moorside.
Times 31st March 2017 read more »
Westinghouse Electric Company announced today that its AP1000 nuclear power plant design has successfully completed review by regulators in the United Kingdom, who concluded their Generic Design Assessment (GDA) by issuing Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) for the Westinghouse technology. The DAC and SoDA were issued by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA), respectively.
Westinghouse 30th March 2017 read more »