Regulators approve Chinese reactor for use in the UK

The Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency have approved a Chinese-designed nuclear reactor for use in the UK.

The UK Hualong Pressurised Water Reactor (UK HPR1000) was jointly developed by China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corporation following the merging of two previously separate designs.

The reactor is intended to be deployed at the proposed Bradwell B nuclear plant in Essex, which is being jointly developed CGN and EDF.

CGN is also a partner with EDF on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station currently under construction in Somerset and Sizewell C – its sister project in Suffolk. Whilst EDF is the lead partner on the Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C projects, the Bradwell B project is being led by CGN.

CGN and EDF submitted a joint application for a generic design assessment for the UK HPR1000 to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in October 2016. The application was accepted the following January.

Mark Foy, chief nuclear inspector at the Office for Nuclear Regulation, said: “The UK HPR1000 design has been assessed against the high levels of safety and security expected in the UK, and issuing the Design Acceptance Confirmation – after rigorous and detailed assessments undertaken by a wide range of my specialist inspectors – means we consider the UK HPR1000 design is suitable for deployment in the UK.”

Saffron Price Finnerty, nuclear regulation manager at the Environment Agency said: “At the Environment Agency we’re responding to the climate emergency as a priority, as we set out in our plan EA2025 – Creating a Better Place. Decarbonising energy supplies is a key objective for the UK and nuclear power is an important part of government’s energy policy to deliver a net zero future.

“The Environment Agency’s role in this, through our regulation and the advice we provide, is ensuring that new nuclear power stations will meet high standards of environmental protection and waste management, and that communities and the environment are properly protected.

“We’ve completed a rigorous assessment of the UK HPR1000 and concluded that it is capable of meeting those high standards that we expect.”

Although the reference plant for the assessment was the third reactor at the Fangchenggang nuclear plant in China’s Guangxi province, which is expected to come online later this year, the first two HPR1000 reactors began commercial operation at the Fuqing nuclear power in Fujian province in January and December 2021.