China's self-developed nuclear design enters 3rd-stage UK assessment

GUANGZHOU -- Hualong One, China's self-developed reactor design, has completed its second phase of assessment in the U.K., with the next stage set to determine whether it is fit for use in the European country, said its developer on Thursday.

The China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) and French state-owned power giant EDF signed deals with the British government in September 2016 on building three projects in the U.K.. The project based in Bradwell, Essex is expected to use the Hualong One technology.

Before construction, the new technology has to pass a process called generic design assessment (GDA) led by the British Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and Environment Agency (EA) to determine its safety and environmental impact.

The GDA is expected to proceed in four phases over a period of 60 months, with the first stage starting on Jan. 19, 2017 and the second stage beginning on Nov. 16 later the same year.

"ONR and EA gave the following comment after the second phase of GDA: 'From the review of the Preliminary Safety Report, no fundamental shortfalls in nuclear safety, environment and security were found'," said Mao Qing, who heads the technical affairs of Hualong's GDA. "It is a very good comment."

"In the third phase, the company will further improve the design according to the assessment. There is lots of work to be done," said Mao, adding that he is confident that Hualong One will eventually pass the assessment.