On Monday 18th April, in the NI Western Branch’s penultimate evening lecture of the season, Alan McGoff, from the Environment Agency (EA), presented on “Environmental Regulation of the Nuclear Industry”.
Hosted by Atkins at Bristol's Aztec West Business Park, Alan delivered a lively overview of the EA’s role, how they regulate, and the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of New Nuclear Build, including a summary of the Best Available Technique (BAT) approach. To conclude his presentation, Alan emphasised that the key to effective regulation, and success of applications through the regulatory process, was “openness” and “transparency”, as well as clear communication, particularly where there is engagement with international stakeholders.
Throughout the evening, Alan responded to a range of questions from the audience on subjects such as the EA’s independence from government; its interfaces with neighbouring countries and governmental departments; the EA’s involvement with site proposals; and the impact on existing and new information from issuance of a Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) as part of the GDA.
[Simon Briggs]