In January 2008 the Government announced its support for the building of a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency have a key role in the nuclear power programme; by making sure that any new nuclear power station build in the UK meets the highest standards of safety, security, environmental protection and waste management.

As a first step in achieving this aim, in August 2007 we started work on assessing a number of new nuclear power station designs, using a newly-developed process. We called this process generic design assessment or GDA as it involves looking at all the design issues separately from the other important factors such as whether the location chosen for the siting of a new nuclear power station is suitable, or whether the potential operator is competent, which we also have to consider.

• Background information on the development of GDA.

Currently, we are working together to assess two nuclear power station designs, which could be built in the UK over the coming years:

• The UK EPR developed by AREVA and Electricité de France(EDF)
• The AP1000 developed by Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC)

• More information on the designs
• See the progress made so far on the assessment of these designs

Key elements of GDA

• The assessments are being carried out by regulators working for HSE and the Environment Agency. Our organisations are independent of government and our regulators are expert in their field.
• The regulators are working closely together on GDA. A Joint Programme Office (JPO) has been set up as a ‘one-stop-shop’ to act on behalf of both HSE and the Environment Agency.
• GDA is a complex rigorous process – it will take around 3.5 years to complete
• It is a staged process – the assessments get increasingly detailed as they progress through a series of milestones, reducing the financial risks for potential operators.
• It allows regulators to get involved with designers at the earliest stage, where they will have most influence and where they can apply lessons learnt from assessing one design to the others being looked at.
• It is open and transparent. The public can view detailed design information on the web and comment on it. The regulators also plan to give regular feedback on how the assessments are progressing; publishing their reports at the end of key stages.
• It separates design issues from specific siting issues, improving the overall efficiency of the regulatory process.
• It allows the work of nuclear regulators in other countries to be taken into account where they have already assessed a design.

• More detailed guidance on GDA
• How does GDA link into the work being done by nuclear regulators in other countries?
• How you can get involved

At the end of the GDA process, if we consider a design to be acceptable for building in the UK, we will issue it with a statement of acceptability. This will then be taken into account during the next stage of the approval process (the site specific stage); when a potential operator applies to the regulators for the licenses, permits and authorisations required by law before a new nuclear power station can be constructed and operated.

• Find out more information on site-specific approvals

While GDA and site-specific approval are important elements of the regulatory process, they are only a part of the wider approvals process that needs to be gone through before a new nuclear power station can be built. These include:

• The planning process
• Strategic siting issues
• Socio-economic issues (the Justification case)

• More information on other processes that need to be completed before being able to build and operate new nuclear power stations in the UK.
• Find out more general information about nuclear power in the UK