View on the ground

Sizewell

Sizewell, on the Suffolk coast near Leiston, was one of the eleven sites that could potentially host a new nuclear station included on the Government’s list published on 15th April 2009. Sizewell was also included on the final list of ten nominated sites which was issued on 9th November 2009 (It was proposed to drop Dungeness from the list). This was part of a consultation on Draft National Policy Statements (NPSs) on Energy Infrastructure. The draft Nuclear NPS included a site assessment for Sizewell.

Sizewell is home to two closed Magnox reactors (Sizewell A), owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, (NDA). These reactors are being decommissioning, on behalf of the NDA, by Magnox South Ltd, which is a company owned by Energy Solutions.

Sizewell is also the site of the UK’s only Pressurised Water Reactor (Sizewell B), owned by British Energy, which is now part of EDF Energy.  

British Energy held various public meetings in the area around Sizewell in March and July 2008.

Sizewell is expected to be the second new station for which planning permission will be sought. EDF Energy is planning to build 3.2 gigawatts (GW), at Sizewell. This would probably mean the construction of two 1.6GW European Pressurised Water Reactors at Hinkley. The most recent schedule (May 2010) of dates by when the Infrastructure Planning Commission expects to receive planning applications to construct new nuclear power plants and other infrastructure projects shows an application is expected to be received from EDF in June 2011. (With an application to build 3.2GW at Hinkley Point expected in December 2010).

Horizon Nuclear Power is expected to apply for permission to build at Wylfa on Anglesey in early 2012 and Oldbury in Gloucestershire in 2014.

Sizewell Blockaders

In August 2007 five local activists, blockaded the main entrance to Sizewell A and B as part of the ‘Camp for Climate Action’. The peaceful protest disrupted traffic going in to the main entrance. The activists chained themselves together across the access road to oppose the myth that nuclear power is carbon neutral. Banners displayed by the activists read “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer to Climate Chaos” and “Don't Nuke the Climate”.

Mell Harrison, one of those taking part in the blockade and co-ordinator of Eastern Region CND said: “The construction of new nuclear power plants is not only incredibly costly, it’s also very short sighted. We would be able to produce a limited amount of electricity for a couple of generations, but the coming hundreds of generations will have to deal with the waste produced by the nuclear industry. There is also a risk of catastrophic nuclear accidents and an increased risk of nuclear weapons proliferation.”

Then in July 2008 another five activists, calling themselves the Sizewell Blockaders, locked themselves together at the end of the only entrance road to the nuclear power stations. The five activists claimed that the stations should be shut down for health and safety reasons and therefore the activities on the site are not lawful. The ‘Sizewell Blockaders’ appeared at Lowestoft magistrates court on 28th September charged with aggravated trespass, but were acquited on a legal technicality.

Some of the defendants had been hoping to call Dr Ian Fairlie, a Consultant on Radioactivity in the Environment to give evidence about recent German studies (the KiKK study) which found that all types of cancer as well as leukaemia occurred significantly more frequently in the vicinity of nuclear power plants (within a radius of 5 km) than in further distant areas.
 

Mell Harrison said “when we took the action the government was pressing ahead with Nuclear power despite accidents such as the leak at Sizewell in 2007 and the worrying results of the German study. There are many cleaner and quicker ways of meeting our energy needs and cutting carbon emissions.”

Local groups: Communities Against Nuclear Expansion; Shutdown Sizewell Campaign 

Last Updated 4th June 2010

This section of the website has been developed thanks to funding from Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation, and the Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust.