Holtec International’s SMR-300 small modular reactor design has completed Step 1 of the UK’s generic design assessment (GDA) process and will now progress to Step 2, which is expected to last for 14 months.
The Environment Agency, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, and Natural Resources Wales announced on 1 August that they are progressing to the next phase of their assessment of the design.
The GDA process is a way to allow regulators to begin assessing the safety, security, safeguarding and environmental aspects of new reactor designs before site-specific proposals are brought forward.