The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has received an application from Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) seeking approval to become the new dutyholder for Hunterston B nuclear power station.
In early 2022, Hunterston B in Scotland reached the end of its operating life after nearly 46 years of generating electricity and moved into its defuelling phase.
During the last three years, nuclear fuel has been removed from the reactors in North Ayrshire and transported by rail to Sellafield in Cumbria for storage.
Defuelling is expected to be completed in the coming months, and once complete, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will take ownership of the site, with its subsidiary NRS managing the long-term decommissioning programme, subject to regulatory permission being granted.
This recent licence application to ONR schedules the point of transfer from EDF to NRS at spring 2026.
Similar applications have been made to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) requesting the transfer of the site’s Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 permit for radioactive substances activities.
In a significant step, Hunterston B is the first of the UK’s fleet of Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors (AGR) to formally apply to ONR for transfer to NRS for decommissioning.
Tim Saunders, AGR Transition and Transfer Project Inspector, said: "We've received this application to transfer dutyholder responsibilities to NRS which is an important step in the process to decommissioning.
"Our team will now asses that it is a capable organisation to hold the licence and permit and has the necessary arrangements to adequately and safely decommission and dismantle the plant and buildings in a timely manner.
"We will continue to effectively and efficiently regulate the Hunterston B site proportionately throughout the entire decommissioning phase to ensure the licensee complies with all applicable legislation to safeguard workers and the public.”
This application follows ONR granting consent to EDF last autumn to start decommissioning Hunterston B following public consultation and a detailed assessment by ONR specialist inspectors of EDF’s environmental statement.
Currently, NRS is responsible for safely decommissioning 13 sites across the country, including the first generation of nuclear and research sites.