Anti-Sizewell C campaigners set to continue legal fight against new nuclear reactor
They want to appeal against a ruling which found the government had acted lawfully in approving a new reactor
Campaigners calling for a halt to plans to build a new nuclear reactor on the Suffolk coast are pressing ahead with a fresh legal challenge to the project.
Together Against Sizewell C, working with other campaign groups, is set to request permission to appeal a High Court ruling last month.
It found the government had acted lawfully in approving the multibillion pound project.
The group claims a third reactor at the Sizewell site will be damaging to the local environment.
They are also concerned about a lack of a permanent water supply to the proposed new reactor, with the East of England recently hit by drought conditions.
Together Against Sizewell C Chair Jenny Kirtley said: "It is imperative we appeal Judge Holgate's perverse sanctioning of Sizewell C even though the proposed nuclear plant does not have a guaranteed mains water supply, without which it cannot operate."
"We also appeal his ruling on EDF’s incomprehensible claim that the Sizewell C site will be fully decommissioned by 2140.
"This date has been flatly contradicted by the Office of Nuclear Regulation, who told TASC it will take 70 years after the plant stops generating for spent fuel to cool sufficiently, be moved offsite and the store decommissioned.
"The only way the 2140 deadline could be met at Sizewell C would be to slash its operating life by nearly 30 years, meaning generation stops in 2070, driving a coach and horses through this project's claimed commercial viability and contribution to meeting the UK’s climate change goals."
Rachel Fulcher from Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth said:
“Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth wholeheartedly support TASC in pursuing the appeal against Judge Holgate's decision and have every confidence that the legal team will achieve a successful outcome."
"Meanwhile we will continue to focus on saving what we can of East Suffolk's precious wildlife and our beautiful Heritage Coast which are already being devastated by EDF's so-called 'preliminary works'.”
Sizewell C is expected to generate low-carbon electricity to supply six million homes upon completion, which is currently expected in 2031.
Ministers insist the project would create 10,000 highly skilled jobs and help the UK meet demand for electricity without the need to rely on fossil fuels.
But campaigners say the approval of the reactor went against the recommendations of the Planning Inspectorate and the advice of government conservation agency Natural England.