Horizon clears justification hurdle

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

The regulatory justification process for Horizon Nuclear Power's choice of the Hitachi-GE's ABWR for build at Wylfa Newydd is now complete, after approval by both Houses of Parliament.

ABWR (Image: Hitachi-GE)

 
The justification process was based on an application made by the UK Nuclear Industry Association which made the case that Wylfa Newydd's benefits to British society in terms of security of supply and carbon reduction outweigh any potential radiological health detriments. The application is specific to Horizon Nuclear Power's chosen reactor design, the ABWR as supplied by Hitachi-GE.

Horizon said: "The completion of the justification process comes after two rounds of public consultation, a ruling from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and unanimous approval in both Houses of Parliament." Company COO Alan Raymant said it was a "major milestone" for the project and came alongside the completion of the company's first public consultation of people near to Wylfa Newydd. The site is on the Welsh island of Angelsey alongside Wylfa, an operational nuclear power plant with two Magnox units since 1971. One of the units is now closed; the other will shut down in December.

Horizon hopes to build two ABWR units at Wylfa Newydd and start them up in around 2025. It is putting the ABWR design through the Generic Design Assessment process operated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News