By Rhodri Morgan
Pressure groups have mounted a fresh legal challenge to the development of the Sizewell C nuclear power station as the government sinks another £1.3bn into finishing the project.
A release from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) yesterday confirmed the additional investment has been made available from existing budgets, but freshly earmarked for the Sizewell C project.
The final investment decision for the project, which is anticipated to take nine years to build and create thousands of jobs, is expected this year.
France’s EDF is developing the project whilst simultaneously trying to raise an estimated £20bn in partnership with the government from outside investment.
Campaigning group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) yesterday said its legal team have applied to take the legal challenge against Sizewell C to the Supreme Court.
“It is the government’s decision to drive a bulldozer through East Suffolk by triggering Sizewell C’s construction when it has no nuclear site licence, no Final Investment Decision or transparency about how much the project will cost or who might pay for it, that has forced us to take our case to the highest court in the land,” the group said on X, formerly Twitter.
The group lost its latest legal challenge against the project in December last year.
Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie yesterday described the Sizewell C project as “a win for our energy security and a strong message to investors that Britain is serious about its low-carbon, homegrown nuclear-powered future, providing reliable, cheaper power for British families.
Four out of Britain’s five live power stations are set to close before the end of the decade, though EDF is planning a regeneration project to extend the life of some.
Another major reactor, the size of both Sizewell and Hinkley C, was revealed to be an active consideration in the government’s nuclear roadmap last week.
But the sector was dealt a fresh blow days later as Newcleo confirmed it was taking a £4.2bn reactor build to France on the persuasion of president Emmanuel Macron.
