Britain's nuclear industry is safe and reliable and requires no structural changes, initial results of European Union stress tests show, according to a report issued on Thursday by the UK's nuclear watchdog.
The report follows the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March, which led the European Commission to mandate safety tests on the bloc's 143 reactors.
"To date, none of the stress test work…has indicated any fundamental weaknesses in design and resilience at UK nuclear power plants — but lessons are being learnt from Fukushima to improve safety," John Donald, superintending inspector of the Office for Nuclear Regulation said.
Although the exact nature of the changes suggested by the Fukushima disaster to improve industry safety have not yet been determined, measures under consideration include bolstering flood defences and introducing backup generators to provide cooling and power supply, the report said.
EDF Energy , Britain's biggest operator of nuclear power plants, plans to review flooding risks at specific sites by including the latest climate change data missing from previous assessments, the report added.
For the two reactors operated by Magnox, the main focus will be on improving the reliability of cooling systems in the face of "beyond design" stresses.
The watchdog has set Oct. 31 as the deadline by which reactor operators must submit final stress test results.
A final report consolidating EU-wide stress test results will be presented to the council in June 2012.
