Land use planning

PADHI+ Nuclear installations

Introduction

The significance of any proposed development depends on its size in terms of the population involved, and proximity to the nuclear installation.

Other factors requiring consideration include the location of schools and hospitals, local communications, population mobility, and any other special features which might affect emergency countermeasures in the event of an accidental off-site release of radioactive material.

Industrial and commercial developments in the vicinity of the nuclear installation, which have the potential to constitute an external hazard, are of particular concern. The influence of such developments on the safety envelope of the nuclear installation will require detailed assessment by HSE/ONR specialist inspectors.

Consultation criteria

There is a need therefore, to refer to HSE/ONR proposed developments that will increase the extant population according to the following consultation criteria:

Types of development considered

In accordance with the above consultation criteria, types of developments include, inter alia:

1. Residential – houses, flats, caravans, camp sites, hotels and other temporary accommodation.
2. Commercial and Industrial - offices, factories, warehouses, wind farms, agricultural units, runway extensions.
3. Retail - shops, retail warehouses, superstores, shopping centres etc.
4. Educational and Institutional – schools, colleges, hospitals, care homes, sheltered housing, prison establishments and detention centres.

Commercial and industrial developments in the vicinity of the nuclear installation which have the potential to constitute an external hazard include, inter alia:

• Developments that involve the handling, processing, transport and storage of chemicals having a potential for explosions or for the production of gas clouds capable of deflagration or detonation.
• Developments in which asphyxiant, toxic, or corrosive materials are stored, processed, transported and otherwise dealt with, that can be discharged under normal or accident conditions.
• Developments that could increase the likelihood of missiles or any other form of impact loading such as wind farms (blade detachment) and military facilities (missiles, aircraft).
• Developments that could increase the likelihood of electromagnetic interference, and/or electrical transmission grid instability.
• Developments that could increase the likelihood of flooding or blockage of cooling water inlets by silt, debris or biological phenomena such as algae or other forms of marine life, which could have an adverse effect on nuclear safety systems.

Site characteristics

The above constraints are designed to ensure that residential, industrial and commercial developments are so controlled that the general characteristics of the site are preserved and are maintained similar to those characteristics which existed at the time of licensing throughout the entire life cycle of the nuclear installation.

• Note that large population centres remote from the nuclear site, can influence estimates for allowable population increments in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear installation.
• To determine estimates of allowable population increments, HSE/ONR routinely undertakes detailed demographic analyses with radial extent 30 kilometres in 1.0 kilometre distance bands from the nuclear installation.

Further details are given in the publications listed under Additional Background Information; reference 4 describes ONR’s current approach to providing advice in relation to population distribution near to proposed or existing nuclear installations.

Detailed emergency planning zone (DEPZ)

Local Authority Emergency Planning Officers should be consulted to ensure that any proposed developments can be accommodated in the Off-Site Nuclear Emergency Plan consistent with the requirements of the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations (REPPIR) 2001.

• A DEPZ is provided around a nuclear installation, where there is the potential for an off-site release of radioactivity that would require implementation of countermeasures.
• The DEPZ is defined on the basis of the most significant release of radiation from an accident, which can be reasonably foreseen. In the event of an accident being larger than the reasonably foreseeable event, arrangements are in place for extending the DEPZ consistent with the concept of ‘extendability’.

Additional background information

More detailed background information relevant to land-use planning, emergency preparedness and external hazards in the vicinity of nuclear installations can be found in the following publications which are available for download from the HSE and IAEA internet web sites:

1. HSE/ONR Safety Assessment Principles for Nuclear Facilities (2006 Edition):
   • The Regulatory Assessment of Siting, paragraphs 103-130, pp. 21-23.
   • External and Internal Hazards, paragraphs 208-233, pp. 35-39.
   • Accident Management and Emergency Preparedness, paragraphs 639-645, p. 104.
2. IAEA Safety Standard, Site Evaluation for Nuclear Installations Safety Requirements, NS-R-3, Issued December 2003
   • Criteria Derived from Considerations of Population and Emergency Planning, paragraphs 2.26-2.29, p. 9.
   • External Human Induced Events, paragraphs 3.44-3.51, pp.16-17.
   • Population Distribution, paragraphs 4.10-4.13, pp. 20-21.
   • Monitoring of Hazards, paragraph 5.1, p.21.
3. IAEA Safety Standard, External Events Excluding Earthquakes in the Design of Nuclear Power Plants, NS-G-1.5, Issued November 2003
   • Aircraft Crash
   • External Fire
   • Explosions
   • Asphyxiant and Toxic Gases
   • Corrosive and Radioactive Gases and Liquids
   • Electromagnetic Interference
   • Biological Phenomena
4. Land use planning and the siting of nuclear installations in the United Kingdom
   • HSE/ONR Safety Assessment Principles for Nuclear Facilities (2006 Edition)
   • IAEA Safety Standard, Site Evaluation for Nuclear Installations Safety Requirements, NS-R-3, Issued December 2003
   • IAEA Safety Standard, External Events Excluding Earthquakes in the Design of Nuclear Power Plants, NS-G-1.5, Issued November 2003
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