- Office for Nuclear Regulation
- Our work
- Key operational programmes
- Civil nuclear reactors
- New build power stations
Nuclear new build
The Civil Nuclear Reactor Programme is responsible for licensing and permissioning proposed new sites for nuclear power stations. At present, there are between three and five sites which are known to be progressing plans for nuclear new build, though only the prospective licensee, NNB Generation Company (a subsidiary of EDF Energy), has made an application for a nuclear site licence for its proposed Hinkley Point C development.
Any organisation wishing to carry out prescribed nuclear activities must apply for, and be granted, a nuclear site licence before it starts construction of a nuclear safety-related plant. A site licence puts the licence holder under strict legal obligations and, importantly, gives wider and deeper regulatory powers to ONR to ensure the safe construction, commissioning and operation of a nuclear site.
The granting of a nuclear site licence is a significant step but is not itself permission to start nuclear-related construction. That requires a regulatory permission from ONR.
Licensing and permissioning are the latter stages of the process for regulating new nuclear power stations. The Generic Design Assessment, a joint project with the Environment Agency, has been running since 2008, assessing two proposed nuclear reactor designs for use in the UK. Latest information about progress on the Generic Design Assessment is available in its quarterly reports.
Nuclear site licence conditions
Licensing Nuclear
Installations