nuclear-news

Sizewell C faces fresh legal action in fall out over water supply

Campaigners opposed to the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk have
launched fresh legal action following concerns about the water supply for
the plant.

In July 2022, then business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng granted
permission for the 3.2 gigawatt power station being developed by French
energy provider EDF to be built alongside the existing Sizewell B nuclear
plant, in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Natural Beauty (AONB).

This was despite the Planning Inspectorate noting that NNB Nuclear Generation, a
subsidiary company created by EDF, was unable to identify a permanent water
supply for the project, without which it said it “could not be licensed
and could not operate”.

In August 2022, campaign group Together Against
Sizewell C (TASC), represented by law firm Leigh Day, brought a judicial
review against the decision on the grounds that Kwarteng had failed to
assess the implications of the project as a whole by ignoring the issue of
whether a permanent water supply could be secured – the group argued it
is clear a new desalination plant will be required to guarantee supply.

Last month this challenge was dismissed by High Court judge Justice Holgate
who found the approach to the water supply was lawful, and that Kwarteng
did not need to take into account the impact of the water supply. However,
TASC has now announced that it is appealing this ruling. Specifically, the
group has said that the judge was “wrong” to say that NNB Generation
Company Limited was “unable to identify a permanent supply of potable
water”.

 ENDS 11th July 2023

https://www.endsreport.com/article/1829565/sizewell-c-faces-fresh-legal-action-fall-water-supply

July 13, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK