Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) has withdrawn its ACR-1000 nuclear reactor design from the UK's current design assessment program, saying it wanted to address "major nuclear new build opportunities in the Canadian utility market" where 22 of its Candu pressurized heavy water reactors already exist and plans for up to nine more are being drawn up. This means that Areva's EPR, GE-Hitachi's ESBWR and Westinghouse's AP1000 will go forward to the next stage of more detailed analysis by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) before likely gaining Generic Design Acceptance (GDA). Because of time and manpower constraints, the NII only has the manpower to examine three designs concurrently. Once a reactor design has GDA, a prospective builder could combine that with certification of a site as suitable for a nuclear reactor and make a formal planning application to build. AECL president and chief executive Hugh MacDiarmid said: "We feel very strongly that our best course of action to ensure the ACR-1000 is successful in the global market is to focus first and foremost on the opportunities in Canada." The company said it had "deferred further participation" in the current UK licensing process "until the joint regulator's second wave" of reactor designs. "The UK market remains of great interest to us in the longer term for the ACR-1000 once it is established in Canada," said MacDairmid.
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