Activists have initiated a legal challenge in opposition to the government’s choice to give the Sizewell C nuclear power station the go-ahead amid warnings that UK nuclear plants will be on the frontline of climate breakdown.
In a letter to the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) argues that the permission by the federal government for the plant was given illicitly.
Represented by lawyers for Leigh Day and supported by Friends of the Earth, the group says there was a failure to assess the implications of the project as a whole, by ignoring the question of whether a permanent water supply could be secured, a failure to evaluate the environmental impact of that project and the suggestion that the site would be free of nuclear material by 2140, which was not confirmed by proof showing highly radioactive waste would have to be stored on site until a much later date.
Pete Wilkinson, chair of TASC, said: «The case against Sizewell C is overwhelming, as has been carefully documented throughout the inquiry stage and was found by the planning inspector to have merit».
Sizewell C is expected to cost £20bn and would be paid for with a surcharge on customers’ energy bills as well as £1.7bn of taxpayers’ money.
Experts on nuclear waste disposal who advise authorities say no new nuclear plants should be built until a permanent disposal dump has been built.But a site for a permanent waste facility has yet to be identified, and is unlikely to be ready until the late 2040s at the earliest, if there is agreement on where it should be located.
Rowan Smith, the solicitor representing TASC, said: «We are proud to represent TASC in the local community’s continued fight to help protect Suffolk’s heritage coast and wildlife sites».
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