Draft criteria set for siting new UK reactors

Tuesday, 22 July 2008

The UK government has set out the draft criteria and process for assessing where new nuclear power plants could safely and securely be constructed in England and Wales.
 

Sizewell B: the UK's newest plant (Image: BE)

The consultation on the strategic siting assessment, published today by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), outlines the process the government will use for identifying suitable sites for new nuclear power plants. The consultation will close on 11 November. The government is proposing to invite third parties to nominate sites which it will then assess against a range of criteria.
 

The consultation also sets out the various criteria that would be applied in making that assessment - including those that would automatically rule out sites. The sites identified through this process will still need to be considered through the planning process. The government is also publishing an environmental study alongside the consultation.
 

The consultation outlines a number of 'exclusionary' and 'discretionary' criteria. Exclusionary criteria relate to the fundamental suitability of a site and will be used to 'screen out' unacceptable locations. This includes seismic risk, capable faulting and proximity to heavily populated areas. 'Discretionary' criteria are those that could make a site unsuitable, subject to further consideration. These include less absolute issues and will be used to form a balanced view of the site's suitability, such as flooding, coastal conditions and areas that are environmentally protected.
 

The release of the consultation follows the publication in January of the White Paper on Nuclear Power, which states that the government believes it is in the public interest that new nuclear power plants are constructed in the UK, along with other low-carbon sources, and that the government should take active steps to open up the way to the construction of new reactors.
 

UK business secretary John Hutton said, "We must do everything we can to remove any remaining barriers and open up the UK as the most attractive place in the world to invest in nuclear power." He added, "The strategic siting assessment is the next step towards a Nuclear National Policy Statement. This will help to speed up planning applications while making clear that safety and engagement with local communities are key."
 

BERR expects to finalise the criteria by early 2009 and will then open the invitation for the nomination of sites that could be suitable for new nuclear power plants by 2025. A National Policy Statement will be published in 2010, which will include a list of the sites assessed as "strategically suitable" for building new nuclear power plants. Subject to parliamentary approval of the Planning Bill, this would in turn guide the work of the Infrastructure Planning Commission in dealing with specific planning applications on those sites. It will be the Infrastructure Planning Commission that would decide on applications from developers. If approval is given, it is expected that construction of new nuclear power stations could begin in 2013-2014, in time for producing energy from 2017-2020.

 

BE welcomes consultation
 

UK nuclear utility British Energy (BE) welcomed the publication of the consultation. Gareth Brett, head of the company’s new nuclear development team said: "Today’s announcement is a further step forward to securing a future for nuclear power as part of a balanced energy policy in the UK. It provides clarity on the process to be followed for site selection which will in turn lead to a national policy statement for the siting of new nuclear power stations."
 

Brett added, "British Energy owns eight good potential sites, four in the south of England at Hinkley Point in Somerset, Dungeness in Kent, Bradwell in Essex and Sizewell in Suffolk, two further north at Hartlepool on Teesside and Heysham in Lancashire and two in Scotland at Hunterston, North Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian. We will be responding to the consultation and assessing our sites against the published criteria with a view to nominating sites in due course."
 

He noted, "Over the last year we have been carrying out a range of geological, environmental impact, marine, transmission system and other studies for our sites to determine their suitability and prepare them as candidates for replacement nuclear generation." Brett added that BE has "secured transmission connection agreements with National Grid for each of the key sites we own in the South of England … for grid access in the period from 2016 onwards."