Reform to planning rules on nuclear will make it easier to build small nuclear reactors and give nuclear developers access to more potential sites, the government has announced.
Potential sites for new nuclear plants in England and Wales have been limited to a ‘de facto’ list of eight sites that already house nuclear plants, after a site qualification process that named the sites in 2011, when all potential reactor types were expected to be large multi-GW scale like Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. What is more, planning rules in place at the time placed a time limit on development at the sites. But now the government has set its sights on so-called small modular reactors (SMRs), some as small as a few megawatts, that it hopes will be built on a variety of sites including energy intensive industrial sites such as AI data centres.
The new plan promises a ‘shake up’ to planning rules which will now:
• Include SMRs in planning rules.
• Scrap the set list of eight sites.
• Remove the expiry date on nuclear planning rules.
• Set up a Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, reporting directly to the Prime Minister, to spearhead improvements to regulations to help more companies build.
The government said there would “continue to be robust criteria for nuclear reactor locations, including restrictions near densely populated areas and military activity, alongside community engagement and high environmental standards”.
Developers will be encouraged to bring forward sites as soon as possible at the pre-application stage in the planning process, speeding up overall timelines. The taskforce will speed up the approval of new reactor designs and streamline how developers engage with regulators – covering both civil and defence nuclear. Reactor designs approved abroad could be green lit more quickly, minimising expensive changes. It will also examine how to reduce duplication and simplify processes where there are multiple regulators covering overlapping issues.