There’s just over one month left to comment on Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor technology, as part of the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA), so have you had your say? The Westinghouse AP1000® Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) is currently being assessed by the UK’s Nuclear Regulators (the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency) under their GDA process.
Our AP1000 PWR is designed to be the safest and most economical nuclear power plant available in the worldwide commercial marketplace. The AP1000 plant design offers three distinct advantages over other designs:
- Enhanced safety margins
- Greater economic competitiveness
- Improved and more efficient operations
Under the Generic Design Assessment process, Westinghouse has, and continues to submit information on our AP1000 reactor design to the UK Nuclear Regulators, who are assessing the safety, security and environmental aspects of the design. This process involves a rigorous and structured examination of detailed design information by the Regulators, and has taken several years to complete.
In December 2011, Westinghouse received an Interim Design Acceptance Certificate (iDAC) and Interim Statement of Design Acceptability (iSoDA) and decided to pause the GDA process, pending the selection of the AP1000 plant technology for a project in the U.K. That selection occurred in 2014 when NuGeneration Limited (NuGen) announced plans to build three AP1000 units on the West Cumbrian coast.
In March of last year, Westinghouse announced that U.K. regulators and the company had begun the closeout phase of the GDA. Since this time, Westinghouse has provided regulators with detailed technical information to address the remaining open issues in the assessment of the AP1000 plant design. An important part of this phase of the GDA is to offer the public the opportunity to view and comment on the AP1000 design information published on the web.
The GDA process is being carried out in an open and transparent manner, designed to facilitate the involvement of the public. So, I wanted to take this opportunity with less than two months left of this phase of the GDA closeout to remind you that U.K. residents can still submit any questions or comments on the AP1000® via post or email (contact details in box).
Alternatively, you can visit Westinghouse’s website where there is a vast amount of information on the AP1000 design, along with the latest news updates on our global AP1000 program, which includes links to our progress in China and the US, where eight AP1000 nuclear reactors are nearing completion.
Successful resolution of the open items of the GDA, will result in the granting of a Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) for Westinghouse’s AP1000, which has a target completion of March 2017. So, you have until 30th November 2016 to have your say on our AP1000 reactor design.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Questions or comments? U.K. residents may submit those by:
Post:
Joint Programme Office
Nuclear Regulators’ Generic Design Assessment
4S.2 Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS
Email:
Make a comment by emailing: New.Reactor-Build@onr.gov.uk
Mick Gornall
Vice President and Managing Director, Westinghouse UK
Westinghouse Electric Company
