LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The United Kingdom government on Monday invited nuclear power companies to put forward new designs for a justification decision for the new fleet of nuclear reactors to be built in the United Kingdom.
The Justification Process is part of European Union regulation that requires the assessment of each design before it can be used in the United Kingdom.
'The Justification Decision is the first major regulatory stage for new nuclear reactors, and an important step towards the construction of new nuclear power stations in the UK,' said business secretary John Hutton in a statement.
The process is expected to take about 18 months to complete and will run in parallel with a separate Generic Design Assessment which is underway looking at the benefits of four specific designs for the United Kingdom.
The process is part of the United Kingdom government's push to develop more nuclear power, a strategy laid out in its energy white paper, released in January.