The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) issued Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) for the Westinghouse AP1000 technology while the Environment Agency (EA) granted Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA).
Upon completing GDA, the regulators said that new reactor design meets expectations on safety, security and environmental protection at this stage of the regulatory process.
Westinghouse Electric interim president and CCEO José Emeterio Gutiérrez said: “The successful completion of this rigorous review by the ONR and the EA has been many years in the making, and it represents a major milestone toward bringing a new generation of safe, clean energy to the United Kingdom through the Moorside Project.
“In addition, it expands the global regulatory pedigree of the AP1000 plant design and further confirms Westinghouse’s innovative safety technology.”
The ONR approval is required for the use of the Westinghouse technology at NuGeneration’s (NuGen) planned nuclear power project in Moorside, west England.
Featuring three AP1000 units, the Moorside project is expected to help secure the UK’s future energy supply.
ONR chief nuclear inspector Richard Savage said: "The closure of our assessment of the generic design of the AP1000 reactor is a significant step in the process, ensuring the design meets the very high standards of safety we expect.
"We will now focus our regulatory attention on site specific assessments, and NuGen's application for a nuclear site license.”
The design approval comes a day after Westinghouse and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Image: Officials from Environment Agency, ONR and Westinghouse. Photo: courtesy of Business Wire/Westinghouse Electric Company.
