Voluntary process provides ‘early confidence’ and ‘ensures high standards of safety’
Holtec International’s SMR-300 small modular reactor design has completed Step 1 of the UK’s generic design assessment (GDA) process and will now progress to Step 2, which is expected to last for 14 months.
The Environment Agency, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, and Natural Resources Wales announced on 1 August that they are progressing to the next phase of their assessment of the design.
The GDA process is a way to allow regulators to begin assessing the safety, security, safeguarding and environmental aspects of new reactor designs before site-specific proposals are brought forward.
This ensures that nuclear projects meet high standards of safety, environmental protection and waste management, while providing the company with the certainty needed to move ahead with their designs.
The GDA process focuses on the design of a generic nuclear power station and is not site-specific.
According to the Environment Agency it is a voluntary, non-mandatory process aimed at providing early confidence that a proposed reactor design is capable of being built, operated and decommissioned in accordance with high standards of safety, security, environmental protection and waste management.
Holtec has now launched a comments process, enabling anyone to submit comments and questions about the reactor design to the company for its response.
“Relevant issues raised during the comments process, and Holtec’s responses to these issues, will be used to help inform the regulators’ assessments throughout the rest of the GDA process,” an Environment Agency statement said.
Six SMR Designs On Government Shortlist
The SMR-300 is a pressurised water reactor producing around 300 MW of electrical power or 1,050 MW of thermal power for process applications.
It is one of six SMR designs shortlisted in October by Great British Nuclear for the UK’s SMR selection competition.
That shortlist was drawn up by the previous Conservative government, which said at the time it hoped to announce in spring 2024 which of the six companies it will support, with contracts awarded by summer 2024.
Earlier this week UK-based SMR developer Rolls-Royce SMR said it had completed Step 2 of the GDA and will move immediately into the third and final step.
Rolls-Royce SMR said in a statement on 30 July that the announcement confirms its position ahead of any other SMR in Europe.
