nuclear-news

EDF considers plans to revive ‘fish disco’ at Hinkley Point plant.

Move marks latest step in long-running debate over project’s wildlife
protection measures. EDF is considering reviving plans to install a
so-called fish disco in the Bristol Channel to ward off marine life
approaching its nuclear plant Hinkley Point C.

The French state-owned
company has written to communities around the project, being built in
Somerset, saying new technology could make its planned “acoustic
deterrent” system “safe and effective”. The move marks the latest
step in a long-running saga over the plant’s fish protection measures,
which has become emblematic of a wider national debate between development
and environmental protection measures.

EDF proposed an “acoustic
deterrent” as part of its original plans for the 3.2-gigawatt power
station. The system was devised to protect fish at risk of being sucked
into the plant’s machinery as it draws in water for cooling. But the
company has for several years been trying to ditch the proposal, arguing it
would endanger divers having to install and maintain the system, and may
not be effective.

It proposed to instead develop salt marshes to shelter
shoals. In their letter to local communities, sent last week and seen by
the FT, Andrew Cockcroft, head of stakeholder relations at Hinkley Point C,
said it had “recently become aware” of innovation that meant a new type
of deterrent could be installed. “The technology, pioneered in the
south-west, is proven and deployed internationally [ . . . ] We are
now working with experts to provide the scientific data to underpin the
case for using it at Hinkley Point C,” he said. EDF will “pause all
design and development work on salt marsh creation” in the meantime, he
added.

 FT 4th March 2025. https://www.ft.com/content/b282d3f9-22f3-4075-9fce-6458a6c053af

March 6, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, UK