We consulted on the application to vary the radioactive substances environmental permit for Hinkley Point C Power Station from 18 July 2022 to 14 August 2022. It provided the opportunity for the public, professional bodies, businesses and other stakeholders to provide comments on the application.
We received 41 responses to the consultation from various stakeholders. The responses included various comments and questions which have been summarised in the decision document (found below under ‘Files’).
We assessed the application and the consultation responses were considered as part of determining the application. We issued the permit variation on 6 October 2022. The key changes to the permit are:
Our Role
The Environment Agency is the independent environmental regulator for the nuclear industry in England. We make sure that nuclear companies and the sites they operate meet high standards of environmental protection.
Any company that wants to operate a nuclear power station must show that it can do the following safely and securely, whilst also protecting the environment:
Our Consultation
In June 2022 NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited applied to us to change its existing radioactive substances environmental permit for Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station. Pressurised water reactors at Hinkley Point C will use uranium fuel to create heat and generate electricity when operating. Once used within the reactor, nuclear fuel (radioactive waste) will be stored on-site before being sent off-site to a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).
We issued the original radioactive substances environmental permit in 2013. In the original design radioactive waste was to be stored on-site in ‘wet storage’ - a method of submerging and storing in water.
The operator has now decided to change the technology by which it will store radioactive waste, from wet storage to ‘dry storage’. Dry storage will see radioactive waste stored in sealed containers within a facility before it is sent to the GDF. This means the operator now seeks to change its radioactive substances environmental permit to remove or amend specific conditions related to the previous wet storage technology that are no longer relevant.
NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited is not seeking any changes to the site boundary, permitted activities or permit discharge limits. The operator has said altering the storage method will not change the expected radiation dose to the general public or wider environment from discharges, which remains incredibly small.
Outline of proposed changes
The changes that are required to ensure the permit is accurate and reflects the designed operational power station, are as follows:
Removal of Disposal Outlet A3 – Interim Spent Fuel Store (ISFS) Stack. NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited proposes that the new facility will not have any gaseous discharges and therefore does not require a stack.
Removal of Pre-Operational Measure (POM) 1 – Install HEPA filtration to ISFS Stack. NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited proposes that the new facility does not require a stack so installation of HEPA filtration is no longer relevant.
Amendment of Information Condition (IC) 14 – 'Provide specification for operational management of wet ISFS facility'. NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited proposes that IC14 should be amended to remove references specific to wet storage. The requirement to provide a specification for operational management of the facility will remain.
It is an ongoing requirement of the permit that Best Available Technique (BAT) must be applied to all discharges from the HPC site, including any from the spent fuel facility and associated fuel handling and processing. We will continue to assess the overall impact of spent fuel management at HPC to ensure the minimisation of discharges and the application of BAT.
Separately, NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited will be seeking the necessary changes to its Development Consent Order (DCO) for Hinkley Point C in the autumn.
Given the high public interest in the site, we are inviting public involvement in our decision-making process. We are consulting on the application and ask members of the public to provide comment on the application by NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited. We will take consultation responses into consideration as part of our determination of the application. If we decide to grant the application, we will explain how we made our decision and how we have addressed the comments that were raised.
We will only vary the permit if we believe that it is appropriate to do so. If the applicant can demonstrate that the varied permit will meet all the legal requirements, including those for the use of best available techniques, public radiation dose and wildlife radiation dose, then we are legally obliged to grant the application.
Advice about what aspects and issues we can and cannot take account of is provided below.
We can take account of:
We cannot take account of:
Next steps following the consultation
After the consultation ends we'll complete our determination, including carefully considering all comments made during the consultation. We'll publish our final decision in September 2022.
Our final decision document will:
All comments which are made publicly available will exclude e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. Any comments where confidentiality has been claimed will not appear on the public register.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we may be required to publish your response to this consultation, but will not include any personal information. If you have requested to keep your response confidential, we may still be required to provide a summary of it.
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