Decision on Regulatory Justification of the AP1000 and EPR
On 18 October 2010 the Secretary of State, Chris Huhne, published his decisions as Justifying Authority that two nuclear reactor designs, Westinghouse’s AP1000 and Areva’s EPR, should be Justified, that is, that their benefits outweigh any radiological health detriment they may cause.
This decision is part of the facilitative actions which will enable new nuclear power stations to be built in the UK.
The decisions have been given effect by statutory instruments. These were approved by the House of Lords on 17 November and by the House of Commons on 24 November. Copies of the statutory instruments are available on the Legislation.gov.uk: The Justification Decision (Generation of Electricity by the AP1000 Nuclear Reactor) Regulations 2010 and The Justification Decision (Generation of Electricity by the EPR Nuclear Reactor) Regulations 2010.
The Secretary of State has also published a paper explaining why, following public consultation, he is making these decisions without a further inquiry or other hearing:
Consultation
These decisions followed a public consultation on proposed decisions that Westinghouse’s AP1000 and AREVA’s EPR were Justified.
Details of this consultation can be found on the Consultation on proposed Regulatory Justification decisions on new nuclear power stations (AP1000 and EPR) page.
DECC previously published a public consultation on an application from the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) for Regulatory Justification of a class or type of practice, including four nuclear reactor designs.
Details of this consultation, and responses to it, can be found on the Consultation on the Nuclear Industry Association's application to justify new nuclear power stations page.
Determinations on Class or Type of Practice
Before a decision can be taken on whether or not a class or type of practice is Justified, the Justifying Authority must first determine what the class or type of practice is, and whether it is capable of being considered as a new class or type of practice for the purposes of the Regulations. These determinations, and the reasons for these determinations, are published:
Background
Regulatory Justification is based on the internationally accepted principle of radiological protection. This states that no practice involving exposure to ionising radiation should be adopted unless it produces sufficient benefits to the exposed individuals or to society, to outweigh the health detriment it may cause.
This principle is derived from the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and is included in the European Council Directive 96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996. This sets the basic safety standards for protecting the health of workers and the general public against the dangers of ionising radiation.
In the UK, this principle is set out in the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004. These regulations require any new class or type of practice involving ionising radiation (such as nuclear power stations) to undergo a generic, high-level pre-optimisation assessment of whether the social, economic or other benefits outweigh the health detriment.
Justifying Authorities
There are four Justifying Authorities in the UK, namely: the Secretary of State and the three Devolved Administrations. Since nuclear energy has not been devolved to any of the Devolved Administrations, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is the sole Justifying Authority in this case and any decision will be UK-wide.
Guidance
Guidelines for the general application of the 2004 Justification Regulations is available at The Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004; Guidance on their application and administration.
In March 2008, guidelines were issued to provide specific advice to anyone seeking a Regulatory Justification decision in relation to new nuclear power: The Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004: Guidance for applications relating to new nuclear power.
Justification Co-ordination Committee (JCC)
We set up the Justification Co-ordination Committee (JCC) to help co-ordinate the views on the Regulatory Justification process of the Devolved Administrations, the Statutory Consultees and other experts.. The Committee includes DECC, the Statutory Consultees for the Regulatory Justification process (the Health and Safety Executive, Food Standards Agency, Health Protection Agency, Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland), the Devolved Administrations, the Department for Transport and the Department of Health.
You can read minutes from the JCC meetings here:
For more information, please contact the DECC Justification Assessment Centre on 0300 068 5869 or email justification@decc.gsi.gov.uk.