Source · Select Committees · Energy Security and Net Zero Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Rejected
Strengthen EN-7 to limit Examining Authority information requests to essential planning and environmental impacts.
Recommendation
Language in section 2.4 presuming the effectiveness of regulatory regimes should be strengthened to state that the Examining Authority should require only such information as is reasonably necessary to assess planning and environmental impacts within the scope of this NPS. (Recommendation, Paragraph 31)
Government Response Summary
The government rejects strengthening the language, stating that the current EN-7 already balances the need for information with regulatory oversight and ensures unnecessary information is not sought.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
EN-7 makes clear the applicant should engage the nuclear regulators, providing enough information to satisfy them, and the Secretary of State, that there is no good reason to believe a relevant regulatory permit, licence or other authorisation is unlikely to be granted. Provided there is no such good reason, further information on issues which also fall within the scope of the regulatory regimes will not be sought as part of the NSIP consenting process. We believe that the current draft of EN-7, specifically section 2.4.5, strikes the appropriate balance between Secretary of State’s obligations under the NSIP consenting regime and the level of information applicants will be required to provide.