Frazer-Nash to support nuclear site licensing

Horizon Nuclear Power, an equal joint venture of RWE npower and E.ON UK, has purchased land for the development of nuclear plants at Oldbury-upon-Severn in Gloucestershire and at Wylfa on the Isle of Anglesey. 

Both sites have been identified as suitable for development in the government’s draft nuclear National Policy Statement, which was announced on 9 November 2009.

Frazer-Nash has signed a framework agreement with Horizon Nuclear Power for the provision of regulatory and licensing services for a five-year period from 2010.

The agreement will initially focus on supporting Horizon’s submissions of Site Licence Applications for the Oldbury and Wylfa sites.

Commenting on the contract wins, business manager Paul Deeran said: ‘Frazer-Nash now has significant involvement in the development of the UK’s next generation of nuclear power stations, and these contracts complement our ongoing work for the Health and Safety Executive on the Generic Design Assessment, which is considering the options for nuclear reactor design.’

With the UK poised to embark on a new era of nuclear energy, what technologies will be used in the next generation of reactors? Click here to find out more.

In separate news, Frazer-Nash has been appointed to work with KBR on an MoD review of fuel supply to frontline defence operations.

Much of the MoD’s equipment relies on a reliable fuel supply for efficient operation, but this can be difficult and expensive to provide in remote locations.

KBR is providing new fuel handling equipment including deployable fuel pumps, power packs, filter water separators, flexible fuel bladder tanks, fuel container filling equipment and the associated integrated logistics support.

Frazer-Nash’s work is focused on justifying a safety case for any alternative systems and undertaking a human factors analysis to ensure any new process is straightforward to deliver. 

In order to verify that an alternative is workable, the project will involve environmental trials in a variety of weather conditions, plus testing of a prototype system. The work is expected to be completed by March 2010.