The United Kingdom Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA) have completed a new assessment step of the UK-adapted version of the HPR1000 nuclear technology.
The UK HPR1000 is the Hualong One design proposed by General Nuclear Services (GNS), a subsidiary of China General Nuclear (CGN) and French energy group EDF, for the Bradwell nuclear project in Essex, which is still in an early pre-planning stage. The application to begin the GDA process was submitted in October 2016. The reference design for the HPR1000 is CGN’s Fangchenggang-3 unit in China.
The reactor is now partially cleared in terms of safety, security and environmental protection of the design and the two authorities have not identified any fundamental issues to prevent a project based on the UK HPR1000 from being built in the United Kingdom. The technology will now move onto the third of four stages in the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and will undergo more detailed technical assessments. According to the two regulators, the GDA is expected to be completed in late 2021.