The RSPB's Regional Director for Eastern England, Jeff Knott, explains what it will take to ensure one of the UK’s most important sites for nature is protected from harm as EDF Energy look to build Sizewell C next door.
On Monday 25 February, EDF Energy issued a statement setting out how they propose to address the potential for Sizewell C nuclear power plant to have a significant negative impact on neighbouring RSPB Minsmere nature reserve.
The site on which EDF is proposing to build Sizewell C – a new twin reactor power station of the same design as the one currently under construction at Hinkley Point in Somerset – lies to the north of Sizewell B, whose domed structure has become an iconic landmark dominating the view from Minsmere to the south. It is Sizewell C’s proximity to Minsmere’s internationally protected habitats that is the main source of concern that its construction could have significant adverse effects on the reserve and its wildlife.
EDF Energy’s recognition of the need to fully understand the impact Sizewell C could have on Minsmere and the network of internationally protected areas that make this part of the Suffolk Coast so valuable and sensitive is encouraging, as is their commitment to sharing information to help identify these impacts:
“... to understand the potential impacts of the construction of the station and how they could be mitigated to protect Minsmere from potential harm.”
This will be no small task. The nature of these impacts is complex, and EDF will need to provide evidence from detailed ecological, hydrological and coastal studies before we can even begin to understand them and determine how, and if, any damage to protected wildlife can be prevented. The level of detail required has not been apparent in any of EDF’s public consultation documents to date. While the current Stage 3 consultation presents some headline conclusions about environmental impacts, the evidence to support these conclusions is absent.
The other thing the RSPB (and other environmental stakeholders) will need is time. Time to go through the evidence, time to consult expert ecologists and hydrologists, time to test EDF’s conclusions about where and how Sizewell C might affect the environment and wildlife. The time to do all this is just as important as having the detailed information – the evidence – to ensuring that all the potential impacts are properly understood.
As we enter the final month of the Stage 3 public consultation on Sizewell C, it is my hope that we will start to see more of this detailed information being made available in the coming weeks, so that we can begin the job of looking at the evidence to determine whether our conclusions about the impact Sizewell C is likely to have agree with those of EDF.
The window is narrowing for EDF to share the promised information ahead of their target date of the first quarter of 2020 for applying for a Development Consent Order. If the detailed evidence we need is not shared well before this, it will become increasingly difficult for the RSPB to properly scrutinise all the environmental information pertaining to the impacts of the proposals on Minsmere, given the restricted time-frames imposed by the planning process. This would raise the very real prospect of some key effects of the proposals being overlooked, with dire consequences for Minsmere’s habitats and wildlife – and that is something I’m sure EDF would agree must be avoided at all costs.
There is still just under a month left before the end of the Stage 3 consultation, and already more than 12,000 people have asked EDF to ensure Minsmere is protected from harm by the proposals for Sizewell C. If you haven’t yet, you can add your voice to our campaign be visiting loveminsmere.org
An excellent campaign to advertise and bring to the attention of members. Thank you.
The idea that the government is still intent on more nuclear power is ridiculous for may reasons.