Nuclear regulators have begun the next phase in the process of approving a Chinese-designed reactor for a new power plant in Bradwell-on-Sea.

The China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) and EDF Energy submitted a joint application to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in October last year.

In January the Government asked nuclear regulators to begin the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) on the Chinese HPR1000 reactor known as Bradwell B.

Work could begin by 2023.

Now the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency has announced they are progressing to the next phase of their assessment of a new nuclear reactor design for the UK.

The assessment follows preparatory work by General Nuclear System Ltd (GNS) and the regulators.

The GDA allows the regulators to begin assessing the safety, security and environmental aspects of new reactor designs before site-specific proposals are brought forward.

In addition people will be able to submit comments and questions about the reactor design to the company for their response.

Mike Finnerty, ONR’s deputy chief inspector and director of ONR’s New Reactors Division said: “The purpose of GDA is to determine whether the design meets the robust safety and security standards to make it suitable for use in the UK.

“I am satisfied that there are adequate project management and technical provisions in place to enter step two of the process and, as regulators, we can begin our technical assessment phase.”

Steve Hardy, Environment Agency Nuclear Regulation Group Manager said: “In this GDA we’re assessing the environmental acceptability of a new reactor design from China, the UK HPR1000.

“We’ll identify any issues or concerns we have with the UK HPR1000 and work with GNS, CGN/EDF’s company bringing this reactor to the UK, to make sure it understands our expectations and delivers a design that meets them.

“We are beginning a process of robust scrutiny on which we will report our progress and findings. People can contribute to this work through the comments process that can be accessed from our websites.”