nuclear-news

Towns and villages around a proposed new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point C in Somerset could be in line to receive a £128m windfall under new proposals outlined by the government.

Campaigners opposed to the project dismissed the funding as a “social bribe” that only amounted to £3.3m annually over 40 years while wind farm developers complained they had to pay five times more in community benefits.

People living around eight potential nuclear sites in England and Wales could be eligible for a package of benefits worth up to £1,000 per megawatt of power once a facility starts, the government said……

Theo Simon, a spokesman for the Stop Hinkley campaign, said the offer to Somerset county council came at a time when there were £20m cuts taking place in its budget this year alone.

“It’s not a lot of money – it’s talked about as if it’s a sort of compensation or reward, but it’s really an acknowledgement that people in Somerset still feel profoundly unhappy about the whole plan for Hinkley C. Rather than seeing it as compensation we should see it as a social bribe.”

imon said the kind of £90-plus “strike price” being talked about was already double the original figure proposed and would leave Somerset and the rest of the country saddled with much higher electricity bills.

“I can understand it’s difficult for cash-strapped councillors to resist but it would be worth nothing to local farming and other communities in the event of an accident. The long-term impact of that would be massive.”

And Vince Dale, founder of renewable power company Ecotricity said onshore wind developers were being made to pay £5,000 per megawatt to local people.

“This is a further move by the government to rig the energy market against renewables in favour of nuclear and gas. Nuclear power is already being fast-tracked through the planning system and today they’ve announced nuclear will pay a fraction of the community benefit paid by wind power.”

The government is still in negotiations with EDF Energy over a “strike price” that would provide a guaranteed long-term income for new reactors at Hinkley Point.

The government has already committed itself to a £10bn loan to the French-owned company but has repeatedly ruled out any subsidy for the Somerset project that is seen as a test case for any future atomic plants being built here…….http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jul/17/hinkley-point-nuclear-plant-windfall-bribe