New Nuclear

PAWB welcomes the information on the Planning Inspectorate website which states that the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has announce another extension until the end of September 2020 on the Wylfa Newydd application by Horizon Nuclear. The minister says he has not been satisfied by answers given to the government’s questions since the end of October 2019 on environmental issues and other considerations. However, offering another extension does not go far enough. PAWB proposes that Horizon Nuclear’s planning application should be totally rejected. The national policy statement for nuclear power adopted several years ago is completely outdated and rather than approving this obviously defective application, the Westminster government should start from scratch with a thorough review of their energy policy and to recognise that renewable technologies like wind, solar and marine have totally undermined any reason for investing billions of pounds in nuclear power.

PAWB 1st April 2020 read more »

Planning decision on multi billion pound Wylfa Newydd development delayed until almost a year later than expected. Having been pushed back last year to allow more information to be made available on the environmental impacts, a decision had been expected by Tuesday, March 31. But the issue has once again been kicked the issue into the long grass, with no judgement now expected until late September – almost a year later than had been planned. “Following initial analysis of the further information which has now been provided, the Secretary of State has concluded that an additional period of time is required in order to complete his consideration in respect of environmental effects and other issues which were outstanding following the examination. “The Secretary of State (Alok Sharma) has decided to re-set the statutory deadline for this application to 30 September 2020.

North Wales Chronicle 1st April 2020 read more »

MIXED reviews have been given on the news that a second decision over Horizon Nuclear’s Wylfa Newydd application for Anglesey has been delayed. Information on the Planning Inspectorate website states that the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, has announced another extension on the decision until September 2020 given the current situation with coronavirus. A spokesperson for campaign group People Against Wylfa-B (PAWB) welcomed the delay in the decision saying: “PAWB proposes that Horizon Nuclear’s planning application should be totally rejected. “The national policy statement for nuclear power adopted several years ago is completely outdated and rather than approving this obviously defective application, the Westminster government should start from scratch with a thorough review of their energy policy and to recognise that reneweable technologies like wind, solar and marine have totally undermined any reason for investing billions of pounds in nuclear power. Ynys Môn MP Virginia Crosbie (picture below with Alok Sharma) had an entirely different stance on the matter.

North Wales Chronicle 2nd April 2020 read more »

BANNG column for Regional Life, March, 2020. No sooner had the pre-application public consultation on Bradwell B got under way than it was part-suspended as a result of coronavirus. After a week of visiting places such as Maldon and Bradwell, the Bradwell B (BRB) programme of exhibitions around the Blackwater was halted with ten places still to be visited. But the virus did not kill off the consultation as a whole which ‘otherwise continues as planned’. Continuing with a much reduced consultation when the country is plunged into focusing on coping with the virus is unrealistic, unconsidered, premature and discriminatory. Among the ten locations still to be visited by the exhibition were Mersea, Tollesbury and Brightlingsea, places which have, over the years, expressed strong opposition to the idea of a new nuclear power station at the Bradwell site. The communities on the north side of the Blackwater have been especially concerned about the impact of cooling water on the marine environment, including Colchester Native Oysters and fishing. The proposal to mitigate the impact by indirect cooling through the use of cooling towers in addition to tunnels out into the estuary, by no means allays those fears. They are also conscious of the potential impact of a major release of radioactivity in the event of an accident. Mersea, especially, but also Brightlingsea, Tollesbury and Colchester itself would lie in the path of a radiation cloud with no easy means of escape. On the Dengie side of the estuary communities have become alarmed at the scale and impact of the proposal for two mega reactors, associated turbines, transmission lines and long-term radioactive waste stores. In particular this peaceful, ecologically rich and low-lying wetland environment will be trashed to destruction by the pounding of HGVs, the noise, the light pollution of a major construction site for ten years or more. ‘The coronavirus has slowed things down throughout the world, yet the nuclear industry still hurtles forward in a desperate bid to build its unwanted and unneeded stations. It must realise the game is up. The half-cock, half-completed Bradwell B consultation must stop as a prelude to stopping Bradwell B itself.’

BANNG 2nd April 2020 read more »

Nuclear power plant construction projects in the UK have been taking measures in response to COVID-19. EDF Energy has reduced the workforce at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, and is delaying its planning application for Sizewell C. Meanwhile, the first first stage of consultation on proposals for a new HPR1000 nuclear power station at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex has been extended by five weeks.

Nuclear Engineering International 31st March 2020 read more »

Campaigners are calling on EDF to delay its Sizewell C planning application until government declares the coronavirus emergency completely over. More than 50 town and parish councils have sent a letter to EDF urging it not to submit a Development Consent Order until the virus restrictions are fully lifted. The letter is led by Theberton and Eastbridge Parish Council and Snape Parish Council, and was coordinated by Stop Sizewell C and the Anglian Energy Planning Alliance. Stephen Brett, chairman of Theberton and Eastbridge PC, said “The sheer weight of numbers of town and parish councils signing this letter is proof of the major concerns held across the county about EDF’s Sizewell C application being submitted in the next few weeks. EDF’s token offer to extend the period for interested parties to register does nothing to address our concerns; it will certainly not help members of our communities who are not online, and I am sure I speak for all local Towns and Parishes when I say how challenging it is making decisions at this time.”

East Anglian Daily Times 1st April 2020 read more »

Work on the construction of a major new power line between Avonmouth and Bridgwater is being reviewed following Government guidance during the coronavirus outbreak. National Grid started work on the new 37-mile power line, which will cross large swathes of the North Somerset countryside, earlier this year. The 400,000 volt line is needed to bring electricity onto the transmission network and is being built as part of the new Hinkley C power station.

Bristol Post 31st March 2020 read more »

Nuclear: work continues at the Hinkley Point site. Despite the containment linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, work on the EDF power plant in England has not been stopped. The number of workers has been reduced from 4,000 to 2,000. Nuclear: work continues at the Hinkley Point site Despite the containment linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, work on the EDF power plant in England has not been stopped. The number of workers has been reduced from 4,000 to 2,000. During the Covid-19 pandemic, work on the Hinkley Point C site continued. The new EPR nuclear power plant, built by EDF in the south-west of England, is considered to be an “essential national infrastructure project” by the British government. As such, the continuation of the site is authorized. The number of workers has however been significantly reduced, from 4,000 people on site to 2,000 “in the coming days” , according to EDF. “It is not enough,” worries a worker present on the site, who testifies to Le Monde on condition of anonymity. Employed for over a year at Hinkley Point C, he asked for its complete closure. Unlike France, there is no “right of withdrawal” in the United Kingdom. To benefit from the partial unemployment measures, which guarantee 80% of wages during the health crisis, the employer would have to order the cessation of work. This worker therefore continues to exercise his fear in the stomach, especially since several of his colleagues with symptoms due to SARS-CoV-2 have isolated themselves voluntarily. “EDF has taken measures,” he says, ” but it is impossible to really keep the social distance of two meters. We live in the same prefab, we eat in the same canteen three times a day, we take the same bus to go to the site and back… ” “Nobody respects the distance measurements while waiting for the bus,” laments the worker. Inside the vehicle, only one person is seated every two places, which is progress. “But I still have someone right in front and someone right behind. There were people coughing in the vehicle.” continues the same person. On arrival at the site, the measures are more effective. Markings on the ground impose the necessary distance in the queue before crossing the security gates. But then you have to change into changing rooms with hundreds of metal lockers lined up.

Le Monde 31st March 2020 read more »

In a somewhat derisory move EDF/CGN have moved the closing date for the Stage One Consultation to 1st July this year. This appears to be a token gesture to appease the reasonable requests to abandon the current plan during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic and re-start it once it would be safe to stage public events again. The current ‘offer’ is to interact online, or via telephone, and BRB have launched a new virtual exhibition which replicates the boards one could view if you made it to the handful of events that actually took place. This simply is not sufficient to be considered as true engagement as many communities have yet to be fully consulted. BANNG encourages our supporters to keep pressing this point home as we continue to do so. Meanwhile thanks to all those who responded to the recent planning application BRB submitted to Maldon District Council regarding further investigative work to BRB wish to carry out on the site. We will publish a selection of your submissions shortly.

BANNG 27th March 2020 read more »

Send a message to the Planning Inspectorate, urging them not to accept EDF’s application for consent to build Sizewell C. Go to https://actions.sumofus.org/a/stop-edf-planning-application/ Write to EDF and ask them not to submit its application for a Development Consent Order during any coronavirus restrictions (which government advisers say could last most of the year). EDF has said it will delay “a few weeks”. Tell them a short delay would be unacceptable and they should not proceed until the Planning Inspectorate, Government’s Statutory Advisers, Local Authorities, Parish and Town Councils, Groups and individuals are fully resourced and fully able to engage. Without this, the planning process would be severely compromised. Email EDF on info@sizewellc.co.uk and ask Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey to support this message: therese.coffey.mp@parliament.uk (best to email her separately and – if you are a constituent – include your address. You can copy County and District Councillors, see contacts on https://stopsizewellc.org/what-you-can-do/).

Stop Sizewell C 31st March 2020 read more »