The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), along with the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales, have been asked to begin a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for Terrapower's Natrium reactor design.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero made the request to the regulators following its readiness review of the Terrapower’s application.
This review concluded that the design is ready to enter the GDA process. The assessment will begin once the necessary arrangements around timescales and resources have been put in place. ONR and the Environment Agency developed the GDA process in response to a request from the government following its 2006 Energy Review.
GDA includes continued engagement with nuclear reactor design companies, technical assessment work on their submissions, consultation with overseas regulators, a comments process and consultation and reviews of regulators’ own processes.
The regulators can issue permits and a licence for new nuclear power stations if the design and its potential operators meet the high safety, security, safeguards and environmental standards that is required.
The benefits of a GDA are:
- The regulators get involved with designers at the earliest stage, where it can have most influence.
- The regulators assess the environmental, safety, security and safeguards aspects of reactor designs before construction of the reactor starts.
- The regulators provide advice to the designers about any issues we identify so that these can be resolved at the design stage. This increases regulatory effectiveness and efficiency and, for developers, helps reduce their commercial risks on costs and timescales.
- It separates design issues from specific site related issues, improving the overall efficiency of the regulatory process.
- It is open and transparent. Anyone can view detailed design information and comment on it. The regulators also gives regular feedback on how our assessments are progressing and publishes reports at the end of key stages.
