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Deeply flawed public consultation on Bradwell nuclear power plan: it should be suspended

SPRU 9th July 2020, A public consultation on plans for the UK’s newest nuclear power station
is deeply flawed and should be suspended, according to two leading energy
policy experts. Professor Andrew Stirling and Dr Philip Johnstone say the
consultation into Bradwell B is invalid because the UK government has
repeatedly failed to make the case for nuclear in the face of its
ever-rising costs, slow lead times and poor value-for-money comparison to
renewables.
The academics at the world-renowned Science Policy Research
Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex Business School have criticised the
restrictive nature of the consultation’s scope which they argue excludes
crucial underlying questions over the rationale for building more nuclear
power stations in the UK. Prof Stirling and Dr Johnstone say the
consultation should resume only when the government publish a long-promised
rigorous justification for nuclear power compared to other low carbon
energy sources – something they argue it has failed to do for the past 17
years.

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/news/all?id=52397

July 14, 2020 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, politics, UK | Leave a comment

Maldon District Council Planning Committee does an about turn, now rejects Bradwell nuclear power project

BANNG 9th July 2020, Maldon District Council Planning Committee’s comprehensive rejection
today of the Chinese state-backed nuclear developer’s (CGN) application
for permission to undertake ground investigations came like a bolt from the
blue.

For so long a firm supporter of a new nuclear power station at
Bradwell, Maldon has done a complete volte-face.

Prof. Andy Blowers, Chair of the Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) commented: ‘From the
moment CGN revealed its plans just before lockdown it became clear the
Bradwell B project would be dead in the water. The massive scale of the
project which would totally overwhelm the Blackwater area and the Dengie
peninula has proved too much to stomach, even for those who were seduced by
the promise of thousands of jobs. The price, in terms of loss of
environment and wellbeing, was simply too high.’

But the project is also
being threatened by the political fallout in relations with China. Chinese
ambitions to build a new nuclear power station at Bradwell do not come
without serious risks to national security and the threat of Chinese
economic dominance over the UK’s sensitive infrastructure.

https://www.banng.info/uncategorized/chinese-plans-for-bradwell-b-new-nuclear-power-station-dealt-a-bolt-from-the-blue/

July 14, 2020 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, politics, UK | Leave a comment

Suffolk coast – time to choose whether it is to be a nuclear or a renewable coast

East Anglian Daily Times11th July 2020, Green councillor Andrew Stringer says now is the time to choose if Suffolk will become the nuclear coast, or the renewable coast. “We are the first
to understand climate change, and the last that can do something about
it.”

This quote is not from a protestor trying to change the world by
non-violent direct action. These are the words of James Kelloway, the
energy intelligence manager for the National Grid. And right now Suffolk
needs all the energy intelligence we can get. We sit on the horns of a
dilemma. We have significant energy production resources in and around our
coast line.

And, perfectly understandably these resources are trying to
grow – not only to help meet the country’s energy needs but to face the
challenge of moving towards a low carbon economy. Governments in the past
have left us with a legacy of an unclear energy policy. Almost as if they
were trying to ride two horses at the same time. This conflict is playing
out in real time, right now on our Suffolk Coast. The choices we make now
leave less and less room for error.

We simply must deliver a low carbon
future in less than a decade, while the focus on value for money has never
been more crucial. If we are to continue with our current quality of life
let alone leave a legacy that allows us to thrive. If that challenge
wasn’t hard enough, this all plays out on a spectacular heritage coast.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/business/andrew-stringer-sizewell-c-opinion-1-6741099

July 14, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

How to deal with the thousands of fish threatened by Hinkley Point C nuclear plants cooling turbines

Nuclear Plant And Sound Projector Developers Fight Over Acoustic Fish Deterrent In The Severn Estuary
Emanuela Barbiroglio Senior 11 Jul 

As Hinkley Point C power plant is being built in South West England, hundreds of thousands of fish living in the Severn estuary, including protected Atlantic salmon, may be under threat from the plant’s cooling turbines.

An acoustic deterrent could help deflect fish away from the water intakes. Developed by Fish Guidance Systems Ltd, the Sound Projector Array would use underwater sound projectors to prevent fish being drawn.

Hinkley Point C’s owner, the energy company EDF, would prefer to proceed with a change to the Secretary of State’s Development Consent Order that requires the device. Although they originally proposed the installation as part of the environmental protection package, the company is now proposing to avoid it.

According to some scientists, however, removing this piece of environmental protection would threaten the biodiverse ecosystem of the UK’s largest estuary and designated Special Area of Conservation. It could also set a precedent for future projects like Sizewell nuclear power stations in Suffolk.

“I have lost sleep over the danger to the fish and the risk of devastating the ecosystem of the Severn estuary,” a researcher in coastal governance, Natasha Bradshaw, said. “There is little proof that fish will survive the journey through 3 km of tunnels or what impact returning them (dead or alive) into the estuary will have on the ecosystem.”

The Severn estuary supports up to 110 fish species, with fish nurseries serving the whole of the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea, and an average of 74,000 wintering birds each year.

“In such a large and complex ecosystem, effects of individual projects are always difficult to pinpoint. The situation is complicated further by ongoing changes wrought by climate change,” says David Lambert, managing director of Fish Guidance Systems. “The provision of an acoustic fish deterrent as required under the existing Development Consent Order is to mitigate the uncertainty over these impacts which will perpetuate through the 60 year lifespan of the plant.”

EDF, on the other hand, wants to build fish protection measures like low velocity side entry water intakes designed to minimize the number of fish taken into the system and a fish return system………. https://www.forbes.com/sites/emanuelabarbiroglio/2020/07/11/nuclear-plant-and-scientists-fight-over-acoustic-fish-deterrent-in-the-severn-estuary/#6570da4e791c

July 14, 2020 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

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