Hitachi-GE has produced a new design for a nuclear power station in the UK.

A consultation is now underway between the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales over the UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (UK ABWR) design, which was submitted for assessment in April 2014.

Horizon Nuclear Power is planning to build and operate the design at Wylfa Newydd on the Isle of Anglesey and Oldbury in South Gloucestershire.

However, while the majority of the design's environmental aspects would be acceptable, a number of areas where more work is required have been identified to be resolved before issuing a full Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA).

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EA and Natural Resources Wales said the issues are capable of being resolved to their satisfaction by Hitachi-GE within its existing timescale of completing a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) by December 2017.

The GDA helps ensure any new nuclear power stations built in the UK meet high standards of safety, security, environmental protection and waste management. It also helps developers avoid potential cost and time delays during construction due to late identification of modifications to meet UK requirements.

Saffron Price Walter, GDA manager at the EA, said: "It is our job to ensure that any new nuclear power station will meet high standards of environmental protection and waste management.

"This consultation sets out our findings so far and identifies where we require further work to be carried out by Hitachi-GE. After consultation we'll carefully consider all the consultation responses we receive, complete our detailed assessment and make our decision about the acceptability of the UK ABWR design."

(LM/MH)