New Nuclear

Native oysters at risk from new nuclear build. Graham Farley of Mersea Island Environmental Alliance (MIEA) shares why marine life in the Blackwater Estuary will be at risk if the Bradwell B nuclear new-build goes ahead. CHINA General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and EDF Energy are currently circulating updates on the proposed Bradwell new-build nuclear project. In their article they say that members of the public have a chance to win a photographic competition or even submit their happy memories associated with the original Bradwell Magnox Station! My memories of the Bradwell Magnox station include: radioactive leaks, record fines, more leaks and attempts to cover up a catalogue of failures including the failed FED dumping of radioactive waste in our estuary. Unsurprisingly, there are no mentions of climate change and environmental protection in their literature. It was assumed that with the decreasing cost of green energy, spiralling costs of new nuclear projects and collapse of other UK proposed nuclear builds that Bradwell would be shelved. However, this isn’t so, as we have a copy of a Marine Licence application from July this year to survey the estuary, which confirms that the project is still moving forward. This document confirms the power station “will likely operate with cooling water abstracted from the Blackwater Estuary”. The case I’m making to stop the nuclear new build at Bradwell is environmental: the Blackwater Estuary is one of the most important wildlife habitats in the country, therefore safeguarding and preserving this habitat for future generations is a priority! We must protect of the delicate ecology of the mud flats, salt marsh and the shallow estuary with its many international environmental protections and UK Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) status.

Mersea Island Courier 16th Sept 2019 read more »

RSPB hosts new festival in response to EDF’s plans to build nuclear reactor at the edges of a nature reserve. A thousand people attended a festival today organised by the RSPB in response to EDF’s plans to build a nuclear reactor in Suffolk. Sizewell C will be built on the boundary of the Minsmere Nature Reserve which is home to more than five and a half thousand species of wildlife. The RSPB manages the site and opposes the energy giants plans. They say building the reactor so close to the nature reserve could threaten the thousands of different species of wildlife that call Minsmere home. EDF say that the environmental impact of the new site would be kept to a minimum, and argue that new jobs for local people will be provided. Among the visitors supporting the festival today (Sunday, September 15) was television presenter, Bill Turnbull, who lives nearby. He said: There’s no infrastructure or communications for it here. What is here, is Minsmere – where the RSPB have been trying really hard to get all these birds to come back. And we are going to risk it all just simply because it’s a convenient place to build a power station.” The public consultation into EDF’s proposal for Sizewell C will end on September 27.

ITV 15th Sept 2019 read more »

East Anglian Daily Times 15th Sept 2019 read more »

£20bn to build Hinkley and more power stations to come – but can Britain afford to invest in nuclear energy? It was the biggest blackout in a decade, plunging millions in into darkness and transport chaos. Yet in North Somerset on the mouth of the River Severn, where Hinkley Point C is emerging from the dirt on a vast 167-hectare building site, it was a reminder why reliable nuclear energy is still considered a crucial part of Britain’s energy mix. “Nuclear has always been controversial, but it is the biggest single source of low carbon, dependable electricity we have,” says Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA). “And if we are to have any chance of meeting the Government’s zero-emissions targets by 2050, we need this firm power source whose output does not vary so that when the weather changes or there’s shortage of gas, it can provide constant energy.” Critics question the need to build such an expensive power source when cheaper, quicker, greener alternatives, such as wind and solar, are available. According to some opponents of Hinkley, energy storage technology and carbon capture are progressing at such a pace that by the time reactors are switched on they will not be needed. Detractors also attack the nuclear industry’s terrible track record of missed targets. Costs at EDF’s comparable project on home turf in Flamanville have soared and the build is a decade late. These high upfront costs have put off a number of other developers from building out Britain’s nuclear fleet. Earlier this year a project in Wylfa in Wales, run by Hitachi, was put on ice because of funding difficulties. Toshiba’s plans for a new nuclear plant in Cumbria were recently panned for similar reasons. By contrast, wind and solar farms are surging ahead as costs are falling and delivery times are short. They can be built, connected to the grid and start generating revenue in a short space of time. The trouble, however, is that these are unreliable forms of energy, generating power only when the wind blows and the sun shines. Offshore wind, on average, will run at 45pc capacity over a year. Nuclear has been consistently providing about a fifth of the country’s energy needs since the 1950s, operating at 85pc capacity. New reactors like the ones at Hinkley will run at 95pc. Both the Government and the Committee on Climate Change have said that to meet its commitment Britain will need to generate more than a third of its electricity at nuclear plants or fossil fuel stations fitted with carbon capture and storage technology. Such systems are still in trials, so the nuclear sector senses a big opportunity if Hinkley Point C can deliver. More new plants will require more funding, but high upfront costs and high risks associated with a complicated build mean few companies and investors want to get involved with Hinkley. A new funding model known as regulated asset base (RAB) could provide the key, the Government hopes. At Hinkley, EDF and CGN must wait until reactors are generating electricity to begin recouping their investment. RAB means that developers can earn milestone payments, via a levy on consumer bills. It has been used to fund and reduce risk on the Thames Super Sewer, a major infrastructure project which had investors lining up for predictable returns.

Telegraph 14th Sept 2019 read more »

Coronation Wood will now be chopped down to make way for Sizewell C – even though the proposed new twin reactor nuclear power station has not been given the go-ahead yet. The application from EDF Energy, part of major changes to the Sizewell B estate needed for Sizewell C’s construction, generated a huge number of objections. However, it was approved by East Suffolk Council’s (ESC) strategic planning committee by nine votes to eight. Theberton and Eastbridge Parish Council, supported by a number of other parish and town councils, will now ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to “call in” the application and consider it for a planning inquiry. Paul Collins, of Theberton & Eastbridge Action Group on Sizewell, said: “We strongly oppose ESC’s decision to approve this application when the DCO request for Sizewell C has neither been submitted nor approved. If Sizewell C does not go ahead – and there are many reasons why it might not, including uncertain financing and major environmental obstacles – the AONB will have been needlessly damaged.”

East Anglian Daily Times 11th Sept 2019 read more »

People will find out about the realities of living next door to a nuclear power station construction site tomorrow at a public meeting over Sizewell C. Broadcaster Bill Turnbull will chair the event to discuss EDF Energy’s latest proposals for the twin reactor in the frontline community of Theberton and Eastbridge. Special guest will be Hinkley Point C (HPC) campaigner Richard Cuttell who is travelling from Somerset to share his experience as neighbour to EDF’s construction site for the new plant on which Sizewell C will be based. Mr Cuttell, chairman of the West Hinkley Action Group, lives in Shurton, close to the fenceline of HPC. He will bring his experience of dealing with EDF during the project, and that of local councillors he works closely with, describing how residents of the Parish of Stogursey – which contains the hamlets of Shurton and Burton and is similar to Theberton and Eastbridge – have been impacted by the build. The meeting will begin with a presentation by Mr Cuttell including talking through public consultations, the Development Consent Application and life next to the construction site.

East Anglian Daily Times 13th Sept 2019 read more »