The UK government has allowed the construction of the new Sizewell C nuclear plant on the coast of Suffolk, as reported by the BBC.
Funded primarily by French energy corporation EDF, the project is likely to cost at least £20bn. EDF has said that this plant will be able to generate around 7% of the UK’s electricity requirements and will be operational for 60 years.
Sizewell C will be constructed adjacent to the existing A and B blocks. Sizewell B is currently still generating power, but A has been decommissioned since 2006. EDF has said that Sizewell C’s two-reactor plant is capable of generating 3.2 gigawatts of electricity – which is enough for around six million homes.
‘Overrode recommendations’
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed the government’s approval, and that it will ‘make all future planning decisions on the plant’ as it is considered a ‘nationally significant infrastructure project.’
After an application for the plant was submitted in May 2020 to the Planning Inspectorate, Kwarteng ‘overrode [its] recommendations’ to not grant the approval unless concerns regarding water supplies and nature were resolved.
In said report, the Inspectorate recommended that ‘unless the outstanding water supply strategy can be resolved and sufficient information provided to enable the secretary of state to carry out his obligations under the Habitats Regulations, the case for an order granting development consent for the application is not made out.’
So far, the government has committed to provide £100m to develop the project, and is set to take a 20% stake in the plant.
‘The biggest building site in Europe’
Anti-nuclear campaigners in the area are strongly objecting to the plant on multiple grounds. One significant point is that Sizewell C will be directly adjacent to the RSPB’s Minsmere reserve that protects a diverse ecosystem of plants and wildlife.
The campaign group, called ‘Stop Sizewell C’, has stated that it will ‘continue to oppose the project’ and will be ‘trying to find grounds to appeal against the decision [to approve it].’
Alison Downes, who is part of the group, told the BBC: ‘We are going to continue challenging this project because of technical concerns, impacts on the environment, the investors, the fact that households are going to have to pay, the huge expense and potential for massive delays.’
Downes asserted that locals had been ‘devastated’ by the government’s decision.
‘They’re absolutely resolute and steadfast with us and our campaign to keep fighting against this damaging project,’ she added.
‘This is going to be turned into the biggest building site in Europe and that will drive tourists and a lot of people who could make this a prosperous region away.’
‘A vital step forward for […] net-zero’
The local planning authority is the Conservative-controlled East Suffolk Council, but due to the Sizewell site’s national importance, decisions are made by the government.
The council has said it will review the approval over the next few weeks. Deputy leader Craig Rivett told the BBC that the council will work with project leaders and the local community ‘to ensure that appropriate mitigation is in place to help lessen the impacts of the project during the construction phase.’
Suffolk County Council has aired its grievances, stating that it was ‘disappointed that a number of key issues have not been fully resolved.’ One of these issues is the ‘blight’ of pylons on the landscape and there being ‘no reference to removing a Sizewell link road once construction was completed.’
However, the council also told the BBC that Suffolk as a county would hugely benefit from the £200m investment, noting that a ‘far greater quantity of construction materials will be delivered by rail and sea, reducing the number of lorries on the county’s rural roads.’
The GMB, the union representing workers in the energy sector, stated that the approval of Sizewell C was ‘a vital step forward for energy and net-zero.’