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UK nuclear reactor plans flawed, says safety watchdog

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Nov 27, IRNA -- Britain’s plans to build a new generation of nuclear plants have been thrown into doubt by safety concerns over European and American reactor designs that are central to the government’s proposals.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said that it could not recommend two leading reactors that must be fixed or redesigned before the power plants can be approved for reconstruction.

"We have identified a significant number of issues with the safety features of the design that would first have to be progressed,” HSE said.

“If these are not progressed satisfactorily then we would not issue a design acceptance confirmation," the watchdog concluded following a study of the latest French EPR and US AP1000 reactor designs.

The review of the designs, which are already behind schedule, identified a flaw that involved a protection system being wired up the wrong way that applied to European reactor, which is under construction in Finland and France.

Even more damning, the AP1000 reactor made by Westinghouse, but now owned by Toshiba of Japan, was said to need significant additional work" to prove its reactor is safe across "the majority of the technical topic areas".

The safety concerns, which differ from the codes used in Europe, could delay the planned reactors that the government needs to come on stream from 2017 to help fill the country’s energy gap caused by the depletion of oil and gas supplies from the North Sea.

According to Jean McSorley, consultant to Greenpeace's nuclear campaign, it was highly likely reactor designs would not be ready for final sign-off at the end of the design process.

"This could leave the utilities and construction companies with real problems finishing projects, and that's very risky for them financially,” McSorley said.

The Guardian newspaper also quoted John Large, a leading nuclear consultant, saying that the HSE as an independent agency “will come under tremendous pressure to push through these designs.”

“But if it stands up to [the] government and stops or delays these designs for two or three years until it is satisfied then developers could lose interest and we could fall behind in the queue of countries waiting to build nuclear,” Large said.

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End News / IRNA / News Code 813517