Generic Design Assessment Process

The Environment Agency, Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) work together through a process called Generic Design Assessment (GDA) to ensure any new nuclear power stations built in Great Britain meet the high standards of safety, security, environmental protection and waste management.

The GDA enables the regulators to  scrutinise new nuclear power station designs and determine their acceptability for deployment in Great Britain.

The UK Government has awarded Holtec Britain £30 million of grant funding from the Future Nuclear Enabling Fund for Holtec to complete Steps 1 and 2 of the GDA to progress towards UK deployment of our Small Modular Reactor, SMR-300. Holtec is match funding the contribution from the Government.

Throughout the GDA process Holtec Britain are known as the Requesting Party (RP) and the Environment Agency, ONR and NRW are known as the Regulators.

A successful GDA represents the regulators’ expert judgement that a reactor’s proposed design can safely be built, operated and decommissioned in Great Britain in line with the required safety, security, waste management, safeguarding and environmental protection standards.

Successful completion of the GDA does not guarantee the go ahead for the construction of a nuclear reactor. However, the regulators anticipate that future licensees are likely to want the design they are proposing to construct and operate to have undertaken a GDA, as this will demonstrate some regulatory certainty and thereby reduce the project risk.

Further key site-specific permissions from regulators and government need to be obtained before a new nuclear power station can be built. These include but are not limited to, a nuclear site licence and relevant consents from ONR, environmental permits from the Environment Agency or NRW and planning permission from the Planning Inspectorate.

Read the regulators’ GDA guidance