Site guidelines for nuclear power plants released

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Proposed guidelines for where nuclear power plants can be built and a clearer indication for the construction period have been announced by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Under the planned Nuclear Siting Assessment, sites will be chosen using two sets of criteria – "exclusionary" criteria could completely rule out a potential site while if a site did not fit enough of the "discretionary" criteria it would be ruled out also.

The "exclusionary" criteria takes into account earthquake risk and proximity to dense populations and military activity while the discretionary criteria assesses environmental factors such as flood risk, coastal hazards and even the beauty of the area.

The report indicated that, subject to Parliamentary approval of the Planning Bill, it expected construction of new nuclear power stations could begin in 2013-2014 and be producing energy from 2017-2020.

CECA director Rosemary Beales welcomed the publication of the timetable as it would give the sector an indication of what is going to be needed and when so companies can begin planning.

She said: "The sector has the capacity to deliver but with the announcement that Crossrail is to go ahead from 2010, the industry will need a much clearer forward programme for investment in new nuclear power that sets out exactly what the spending profile will be in order to best plan to meet demand."

But she added: "The process needs to move on and decisions need to be made to the point where contractors have a visible programme for investment, which will enable the industry to plan to meet the potential demand."