Siting

The siting process for a new nuclear installation is divided into two stages: site survey and site evaluation. The government or the regulatory body identifies the potential sites and candidate sites on the basis of a set of defined criteria. Siting survey and evaluation is considered in Chapter 18.

Site evaluation is the actual selection of the site and aims to confirm the acceptability of the final site selected and to establish the parameters needed for the design of the nuclear power plant. The regulatory body should establish specific safety requirements for site evaluation, including requirements for the process of authorizing the site selected. Consequently, the regulatory body makes the review and assesses the site evaluation report, and makes a regulatory decision regarding the acceptability of the site selected and the site-related design bases.

The site evaluation process continues throughout the entire lifetime of the nuclear power plant to take into account changes in the site character­istics, in evaluation methodologies and in safety standards.