EDF Energy Gets Permission To Start Prep Work On First New Nuclear Plant For 20 Yrs
EDF Energy is due to start work on the first new nuclear power station to be built in the country for 20 years.
Preparatory work has been approved by West Somerset District Council, for the new Hinkley C power plant despite opposition from anti-nuclear campaigners. EDF Energy said the preparatory work will create 500 jobs and most of these will benefit the local population.
Nuclear power is needed as part of the energy mix to ensure energy security in the future according to the Government. As wholesale gas prices increase and force up business gas prices and business electricity prices another form of energy generation is needed to compliment the thousands of wind turbines being installed across the country.
The chief executive of EDF Energy, Vincent de Rivaz, said “July has been a major month for nuclear new build. As a result of the steps taken by Parliament and the local authority, EDF Energy is able to take immediate action to move the project forward significantly”.
He added “We are extremely grateful for the consent given by the West Somerset councillors, with the support of Sedgemoor District and Somerset County Councillors. They have taken a major decision enabling a project which is vital to the country. It demonstrates the importance of local democracy. We are committed to listen to the community and to deliver this investment in partnership with the people of Somerset”.
Initial preparatory work includes fencing and excavating the site and over £25 million will be spent on measures to reduce the impact of the building work on the local population.
Those campaigning against the power station say the council has been pressurised into granting planning approval while villagers say the development will change the area permanently.
Speaking from the Stop Hinkley Campaign, Crispin Aubrey said work would mean the area would be turned into “devastated wasteland” and added that work could not be considered preparatory. He said, “The extent of the activity, the clearance of most vegetation, hedges and trees, the excavation of more than two million cubic metres of soil and rocks, the re-routing of underground streams, the creation of roads and roundabouts, major changes to the landscape … mean it is effectively the beginning of construction of the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power station”.
He said that the “real purpose of this application is not to significantly advance the timing of the new plant, it is to destroy all that is precious about the site so that when the main application for the power station is made to the infrastructure planning commission [IPC] it will meet with less opposition. If the site is covered in concrete, then it will be so much easier for the decision to be made in its favour”.
There are concerns that if the Government or EDF decide not to complete the project then the area will be left devastated and with the “biggest hole in Europe”. However, EDF Energy has said if the site is not developed then it will restore the site to its original condition.
Despite the opponents there are those who are in favour of the development and believe it will bring jobs to the area.
The chief executive of Somerset Chamber of Commerce said “It’s an opportunity to kickstart the local economy – thousands of jobs during construction, hundreds for the many years of operation and millions of pounds for the local economy and the skills and training provision in Somerset”.