nuclear-news

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station – all too close to Irish coast

Nuclear plant 240km from Irish coast approved RTE News, 8 Oct 14, The European Union has approved Britain’s ambitious €20 billion plan to build its first nuclear plant for a generation.

The Hinkley Point C power station, which will be built with French and Chinese help, is 240km from the Irish coast…….

Critics have complained that there are insufficient plans for the removal of the nuclear waste that the plant will produce.Concerns about the project have also been raised by An Taisce and the Department of the Environment. An Taisce today said: “The state aid investigation by the European Commission raises totally different issues to those raised by An Taisce’s ongoing legal action.

“An Taisce’s case is against the UK Government on the grounds that we believe they did not apply international law, EU law and English law correctly … in that they failed to consult with their neighbours, the people of Ireland, prior to granting permission for Hinkley Point C.”

The department said it had concerns about the effect on the environment, the management of radioactive waste, and the “rationale underpinning the proposed justification decision for new nuclear facilities”.

It said it had discussions at ministerial and official level over several years about Hinkley Point C……….

Greenpeace has criticised the commission’s decision and said it could well face legal challenges. It claimed the decision was a sellout to nuclear interests and that European taxpayers would have to pay the cost.

Meanwhile, the Austrian government has said it would bring legal action against the commission’s decision to the European Court of Justice.Chancellor Werner Faymann and Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner said Hinkley Point set a “bad precedent” because guaranteed payments had previously been reserved for renewable forms of energy.

They said they were opposing the commission’s decision on economic and environmental grounds, claiming nuclear power was not a sustainable form of energy, was a mature technology and was not an option for combating climate change.

Other member states have voiced concerns that the project makes a mockery of the union’s stated policy to promote solar and wind power.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, launched the inquiry in late 2013, delving closely into the project’s elaborate price guarantee system that critics claim will prove hugely expensive to British consumers for decades to come…….. http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1008/650789-edf-somerset/

October 10, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general