Groups condemn green light for new nuke

The UK government has granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) for EDF’s proposed two-reactor project at Sizewell on the eroding Suffolk coastline, a project that has been widely opposed by locals, scientists, and wildlife organizations. This is the press release from Together Against Sizewell C in response to the decision:

After eighteen months of careful and painstaking preparation of evidence which clearly and overwhelmingly sets out the case against the need for nuclear power in general and Sizewell C in particular, Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) is incredulous at the decision by the Secretary of State to approve the Sizewell C development consent order (DCO).   

Hundreds of people in the East Suffolk area and wider afield presented document after document detailing how the development would be entirely inappropriate for the proposed site on an eroding coast in a flood zone, lacking in a guaranteed water supply, taking more than a decade to construct and providing only a marginal contribution to the existential crisis presented by climate change, all to no avail.

TASC Chairman, Pete Wilkinson, said, ‘The decision has confirmed the suspicion that this was a foregone conclusion, and the outcome was effectively given the green light months or even years ago, making a mockery of the planning process.  

“How else can the Secretary of State’s decision possibly be seen after approving such an illogical, retrograde and delusional proposal when the Planning Inspectorate were unable to recommend consent after they spent 21 months examining the thousands of documents submitted and listening to hundreds of testimonies? 

“Opponents have shown conclusively that the policy of relying on nuclear power to fight climate change simply will not work, that the costs are exorbitant when compared to renewables and energy efficiency measures, that there is no solution to the nuclear waste issue and that the impact on the AONB, Sizewell Marshes SSSI and RSPB Minsmere will be unacceptable. EDF was required to amend its application on no less than 22 occasions in an attempt to shore up the inadequacies in its original plan which was – and remains – lacking in the sort of detail required to accurately evaluate the application.

“This is a disaster for East Suffolk, but it is one that we will not sit back and accept. Together with our lawyers, Leigh Day, and with the support of Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth, TASC will explore every legal opportunity to challenge this decision and fight to save the unique environment of our Heritage Coast and prevent it being reduced to an urbanised energy coast for no better reason than this government’s fixation with nuclear power and its ridiculous plan to turn the UK into a net exporter of electricity at the expense of the viability of the environment and the lifestyles of people in Suffolk.”

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