nuclear-news

Sizewell C sea defences at centre of High Court challenge

A campaign group against the project is due to raise concerns about flooding and rising sea levels.

Jasmine Oak, 10th Dec 2025, https://www.hellorayo.co.uk/greatest-hits/norfolk/news/sizewell-c-sea-defences-at-centre-of-high-court-challenge

A campaign group opposing the Sizewell C nuclear power station is due to challenge the government in the High Court over concerns about flooding and sea level rise.

Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) will appear in court today (Tuesday, the 9th December), when a judge will decide whether the group can proceed to a full judicial review against the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband.

The legal challenge focuses on two additional sea defences that Sizewell C Ltd has committed to installing but were not included in the original planning application for the project.

Chris Wilson, from Together Against Sizewell C, said the hearing is a “permission hearing where the judge will decide whether we can go to a full judicial review”.

He said the group discovered at the end of 2024 that Sizewell C Ltd had committed to the Office for Nuclear Regulation to install additional coastal defences to prevent flooding in extreme sea-level rise scenarios.

“What we subsequently found out was that these additional sea defences had been known about by EDF, who put in the planning application for Sizewell C,” he said.

“They’ve known about them since 2015, and in 2017 they’d actually carried out an assessment for the platform height for Sizewell C, which is particularly relevant for flood protection.”

What’s the importance of these defences not being reviewed?

Mr Wilson said the approved platform height of 7.3 metres meant that, in an extreme sea level rise scenario caused by climate change, additional flood defences would be required.

He said these defences were not part of the original Development Consent Order (DCO) and had therefore not been assessed for their environmental or community impact.

“Sizewell C has been approved and got DCO approval to be built, but it doesn’t include these additional sea defences,” he said.

“That means they’ve never been assessed as to their environmental impact or impact on other places, like RSPB Minsmere or the village of Sizewell.”

According to Mr Wilson, one of the proposed sea defences could extend around 500 metres across the land.

Infrastructure across Suffolk

He also raised concerns about the concentration of energy infrastructure in east Suffolk.

“To have 30% of the whole nation’s energy infrastructure in one small area of Suffolk, with the wind farm infrastructure and Sizewell C, it doesn’t provide security of supply in our mind,” he said.

“It just seems to be a big target for someone who wants to disrupt us.”

Mr Wilson said the cumulative impact of ongoing and planned developments was already affecting the area.

“The area of outstanding natural beauty has long been recognised as a very special place, and it’s just been decimated by all the works going on at the moment,” he said.

He added that further infrastructure, including a proposed water pipeline, could disrupt residents’ lives and damage the local tourism economy.

Chris Wilson also expressed concern for future generations. He said decisions taken now would have long-term consequences in Suffolk and beyond.

He warned that delaying scrutiny of the additional sea defences could leave those in the future facing greater environmental damage, higher financial costs and fewer options. He said any infrastructure with a lifespan stretching into the next century should be fully assessed for climate change impacts from the outset, arguing that failure to do so risks passing the burden of unresolved problems, including coastal erosion and flood protection, onto people not yet born.”

What they want to see

TASC argues the Secretary of State should reconsider or amend the project’s consent order to allow for public scrutiny of the defences before construction continues.

Mr Wilson said the group wants the government to “actually listen to those that have raised concerns and have an objective review” of whether Sizewell C is needed.

He said: “If it was determined it was, which I don’t think it would be, there are other options. We’ve got renewables plus storage that could meet the requirement quicker and cheaper.”

Government response

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has previously said Sizewell C would provide secure, low-carbon electricity for millions of homes once operational.

The High Court will decide on Tuesday whether TASC can proceed to a full judicial review of the government’s decision.

Mr Wilson said he hoped the judge would allow the challenge to continue.

“I just hope that the judge can see the validity of our arguments and that we get a full judicial review hearing,” he said.

December 12, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK