The Department is currently considering responses to the consultation on nuclear power. If the Government were to confirm their preliminary view that it would be in the public interest to allow private sector energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations, we have proposed to undertake a strategic siting assessment (SSA), in combination with a strategic environmental assessment, to develop robust, objective and transparent criteria for assessing the suitability of sites for new nuclear power stations.
With regard to the question of ‘whether retiring nuclear power stations are to be fully decommissioned and dismantled before any new nuclear power stations are constructed in the same precincts’, any future uses of retiring nuclear power stations would need to comply with the existing site licence conditions of the Health and Safety Executive, as well as with other relevant safety and environmental regulations.