A ‘one-stop shop’ for all you want to know about the Westinghouse AP1000TM reactor unit has been launched in the UK.

Westinghouse UK’s new interactive website (www.ukap1000application.com) has been designed to support the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process currently being run by the UK’s nuclear regulators – the Health & Safety Executive and the Environment Agency.

At the launch of the new website, Westinghouse UK’s CEO Mike Tynan said: “These are exciting times for this industry and Westinghouse in particular. They are also important times as our AP1000 is one of two reactor designs being assessed by the regulators for UK licensing.

“We hope our new website will provide valuable information on the design specification while also giving people an opportunity to comment on it.

“The assessment will be completed by mid-2011 and we will ensure the website is maintained with all the latest news, information and progress of the assessment.”

Under the GDA process, companies submit information on their reactor designs to the UK Nuclear Regulators to assess the safety, security and environmental aspects of the design. This is separate from any application to build a nuclear power station at a particular site.

This process involves a rigorous and structured examination of detailed design information by the regulators. At the end of their assessment (and at key stages throughout) the regulators will issue reports on their findings, confirming whether they judge a design to be satisfactory.

The open and transparent assessment is being carried out in a way that allows the public to get involved by viewing and commenting on the design information published on the new website which contains a wealth of information, including a section for the supply chain, which we hope people will find extremely helpful.