Horizon Nuclear Power has applied to the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) for a nuclear site license for the Wylfa Newydd project it is developing on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales.
The ONR will spend the next 19 months assessing Horizon’s organisational capabilities, governance arrangements and competence to hold a nuclear site license. It will also scrutinise the company’s safety plans, the design of the reactors it plans to use at the plant and the site itself.
Horizon will need to demonstrate it has met 36 conditions and obligations to prove to the ONR it is capable of safely installing, operating and decommissioning the power station. If successful, the company will be overseen by the ONR for the entire life of the plant.
In preparation for the application Horizon has created a site license company board which will be chaired by its chief executive Duncan Hawthorn.
Mike Finnerty, ONR deputy chief nuclear inspector and director of its new reactors programme, said: “This is the first licence application for a new nuclear power station since 2011, and over the past three years we have been engaged with Horizon, providing them advice on the licensing process and the robust requirements expected of a nuclear site licensee.”
Horizon’s safety and licensing director Anthony Webb said: “Today’s (4 April) announcement marks a significant development in the maturity and growth of Horizon as we get ready to build and operate our lead site at Wylfa Newydd.
“We already have a proven technology, aligned with experienced leadership, and we are rapidly building the wider capability and organisation to help ensure success. Our focus will now be fully on providing the ONR with confidence in our ability to safely deliver this crucial project.”
Horizon plans to undertake the final stage of a public consultation over the summer before applying to the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) secretary for a development consent order later this year.
The 2.7GW power station will feature two Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) units supplied by a subsidiary of Horizon’s owner Hitachi, which bought the developer in 2012 for £700 million.
The ABWR design is currently progressing through the fourth and final stage of its generic design assessment (GDA) which is on course to be completed by the end of this year. If all goes to plan, Horizon expects to have all the necessary permissions to build the power station by the end of 2018.
Late last year it was reported that Horizon was in talks with the government over public financing for Wylfa Newydd.
BEIS secretary Greg Clarke is understood to have met with representatives of the South Korean state-owned utility company Kepco yesterday in an effort to persuade them invest in the Moorside new build nuclear project and save it from potential collapse.
The meeting came as Engie announced plans to offload its 40 per cent stake in the troubled development to its partner Toshiba, after Westinghouse – Toshiba’s subsidiary and the reactor supplier for the plant – filed for bankruptcy protection in the US.
The ONR gave the thumbs up to Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor design last week following the completition of a GDA.