The EPR nuclear power plant project in the United Kingdom Sizewell C, led by EDF, is contested by a group of opponents who decry its impact on the environment and should take the case to court. The organization Together Against Sizewell C (TASC, together against Sizewell C) cites in particular an insufficient supply of water to cool the plant at the planned site of construction, in Suffolk, in the east of the United Kingdom.
The Minister of Energy gave the green light to the project at the end of July without having obtained “comprehensive environmental information on the effects of the proposed constructionon the water reserves, in particular drinking water, in the region, according to a letter sent by TASC to the government and consulted by AFP on Tuesday. The document asks Minister Kwasi Kwarteng “cancellation of the decision granting the development authorization“Inviting the executive to respond before August 16. “If the answer is not satisfactory, the next step is to file a complaint with the court“In charge of development issues at the High Court of Justice, told AFP Rowan Smith, lawyer for TASC in this procedure. The UK government declined to comment on Tuesday.
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The executive gave the green light to this project on July 20 when the war in Ukraine and a historic heat wave put the atom back at the center of the country’s energy policy. The United Kingdom, which is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, wants to accelerate the development of nuclear energy, which does not release CO2 into the atmosphere, while many of its 15 current reactors are in end of life. But the only power plant currently under construction, Hinkley point C, a project also supported by EDF, has seen its costs soar and will not open before 2027, which fuels a little more criticism from opponents of these pharaonic projects.
In taking his decision published at the end of July, the Minister of Energy had ignored a recommendation from a body responsible for evaluating the project for the government, which considered that authorization could not be granted before resolving this question in particular. of the water supply strategy. Kwasi Kwarteng had argued that “the very important and urgent need“of this nuclear power plant”outweighs the damageand that therefore permission should be granted. Sizewell C is a power plant project valued by the British press at 20 billion pounds, comprising two EPR reactors with a power of 3.2 GW, of which EDF holds 80%, alongside the Chinese CGN which holds the rest.