The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has awarded a nuclear power plant licence to Sizewell C in eastern England, with plans to replicate the Hinkley Point C model with two EPRs.

The license application was originally filed in 2020, and while it met "virtually all" regulatory requirements, two issues held up the issuance of the 2022 license - involving shareholder agreements and site land ownership. The ONR said at the time that it would conduct a "reassessment accordingly" once the two issues were "satisfactorily resolved." Now it has done so and is proposing to grant a licence for the plant.

The granting of the licence is an important step in the long-running Sizewell C process, but it does not allow for the commencement of nuclear-related construction at the site - instead, it formalises ONR's regulatory responsibilities and allows it to ask the project company, Sizewell C Ltd, to apply for permission to start nuclear-related construction.

This is the first nuclear power plant licence issued by the ONR since Hinkley Point C was granted in 2012, meaning Thizwell C has a legal obligation to comply with health and safety and nuclear security regulations and requires the project to meet the 36 conditions attached to the licence covering the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of the plant.

ONR Chief Executive Mark Foy said: "I am pleased to confirm that, following extensive engagement and review by the ONR team, our assessment of Sizewell C's application has been completed and the plant licence has been awarded. The licensing process is critical to confirming that operators have personnel at a nuclear site who are ready and able to meet their obligations under a nuclear site license to protect their employees and the public.

"The granting of this license is a step in the ONR process that allows us to provide greater regulatory oversight, advice and challenge to licensees as they move forward with their plans." We will continue to work with Sizewell C to ensure that the highest levels of safety and security are met."

Mina Golshan, Director of Safety, Security and Assurance at Sizewell C, said: "Securing the plant licence shows that our nuclear regulator is confident that we have the right site, that we can achieve a safe design to replicate Hinkley Point C, and that we have a capable organisation ready to start major construction work, which is a huge milestone and shows that the project is firmly on track."

The EDF-led plan is to equip Sizewell C with two EPRs with a capacity of 3.2 GW, enough to power around 6 million homes for at least 60 years. The design of the plant is similar to that of Hinkley Point C in Somerset and the aim is to build nuclear power stations faster and at a lower cost, drawing on the experience of Somerset's first new nuclear power station construction project. England for about 30 years.

EDF entered into an agreement with China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) in October 2016 to develop the Sizewell C project until a final investment decision is made. Edf holds 80% of the shares and CGN holds 20%. However, in recent years, the British government has vetted and blocked Chinese investment in British infrastructure on security grounds, and the so-called "golden era" of UK-China relations has come to an end. In November 2022, the UK said it would invest 679 million pounds ($845 million) and become a 50 percent partner with EDF on the Sizewell C project. A further £511 million was secured for the project in summer 2023, with government funding designed to enable the project to make a final investment decision. EDF said in November 2022 that it planned to "retain only a minority stake - up to 20% - in the final investment decision".

The UK government has been seeking investment in the Sizewell C project and in September last year launched the pre-qualification of potential investors as the first stage of the equity funding process. It has also passed legislation through Parliament to allow a new way of funding new large infrastructure projects - the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) financing model, which allows consumers to contribute to the cost of new nuclear power stations during the construction phase. Under the previous CFD system, developers financed the construction of a nuclear project and only started receiving income when the plant started generating electricity.

In January, a further £1.3 billion of government funding was approved to allow essential infrastructure such as roads and railways to continue before a final investment decision is made. In March, Sizewell C Ltd, an independent company controlled by the British government, signed an agreement with EDF Energy to buy the freehold title to the land that will be used for the new power plant.

Andrew Bowie, Secretary of State for Nuclear and Renewable Energy, said: "Sizewell C will be a cornerstone of the UK's clean energy transition, providing six million homes with green energy for decades. Securing the nuclear power plant licence is a significant achievement and should further strengthen investor confidence - bringing us one step closer to a final investment decision this year."

Sizewell C Ltd said earthworks were ongoing at the site and the process of raising private equity from investors "continues to make good progress", with "a final investment decision on the project expected in the coming months". Editor/Xu Shengpeng