New Nuclear at Bradwell. Department of Energy and Climate Change
To Bring ‘Hit and Run’ Exhibition to Blackwater
DECC exhibitions and public discussions will take place as follows:
Thursday, 10 December: The Mersea Centre (MICA), West Mersea : Exhibition 8.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m.
Public discussion 12.30 p.m. – 2.00 p.m
Friday, 11 December: Maldon Town Hall: Exhibition 8.30 a.m. – 6.30 p.m.
Saturday, 12 December: Bradwell-on-Sea Village Hall Exhibition 9.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m.
Maldon Town Football Club: Public discussion 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m.
NB: you need to pre-register to attend either of the public discussions: online at - www.nuclear-nps-events.info or call 0845 0048841
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will be taking an exhibition to West Mersea, Bradwell and Maldon as part of the Government’s consultation on the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement (NNPS) on Bradwell. There will also be a public discussion at West Mersea and Maldon. (See details below.) It is thanks to the activities of the Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) that West Mersea is included as a venue and that there will be a public discussion there. BANNG will be present at each of the locations.
Varrie Blowers, Secretary of BANNG, said: ‘You would be forgiven for thinking that this is a bit of a ‘hit and run’ or even a ‘hit and miss’ consultation by government on an issue that, if new nuclear build does go ahead at Bradwell, could affect the lives of thousands of people living around or near the Blackwater. Yet the exhibition will not be taken to places where large populations have a legitimate interest in the building nearby of a major nuclear complex, which includes a high-level radioactive waste store. Colchester is more or less on the doorstep and Chelmsford is within a 25 mile radius. There are other significant populations, too, such as Clacton and Brightlingsea (downwind of Bradwell)’.
The public is asked to give their views on the draft NNPS and its assessment of the Bradwell site as suitable for a major nuclear complex. The consultation period ends on 22 February. The documents can be read at www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk There is a chapter on Bradwell. Information that might be useful can be found on the Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) website (www.banng.org.uk) in the formal BANNG response to the Strategic Siting Assessment consultation. ‘The consultation period is piteously short, considering the Christmas period falls within it’, commented Varrie.
The purpose of the draft NNPS is to provide the framework for the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) when it considers a planning application for a new nuclear power station at the Bradwell site. The IPC is a quango, unelected and unaccountable to Parliament. It has been set up by the Government to fast-track planning applications for major infrastructure projects, including nuclear power stations, wind farms, airports.
‘It won’t be local representatives on the Town Council, on the Borough Council, on the County Council or the local MPs who will make the final decision on Bradwell but this unelected quango. And the public’s opportunities to make representations will be severely curtailed’, Varrie said. ‘The NNPS confirms what BANNG has been saying for quite some time: that high-level waste will be stored on each new site, including Bradwell, until the end of the 22nd century [it was previously removed to Sellafield]. This is very contentious yet the Government states that the IPC need not consider this issue. The Government says it is satisfied that interim storage of high-level radioactive waste [on each new site for around 160 years] will provide an ‘extendable, safe and secure means of containing waste for as long as it takes to site and construct a geological facility……Having considered this issue, the Government is satisfied that effective arrangements will exist to manage and dispose of the waste that will be produced from new power stations’. Unfortunately, there are no ‘effective arrangements’ for the disposal of this waste and there may never be. And the Bradwell site is liable to increased flooding and storm surges as a result of climate change. What is being proposed is a scandal’.
Four former members of the Government's first Committee on Radioactive
Waste Management (CoRWM1), including its Chair, Professor Gordon MacKerron, and the Chair of BANNG, Professor Andy Blowers, have written to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change informing him of their concerns about the Government’s interpretation of radioactive waste management policy. They accuse him of ignoring the recommendation from CoRWM1 that the management of radioactive waste from new nuclear build should be subject to a separate process of examination. They say the claim that arrangements for the long-term management of radioactive waste will exist is premature and that potential host communities need to be able to question the need for on-site, long term storage of new build waste during the IPC planning application process. The agreed policy of volunteerism, whereby a community volunteers to host the country’s high-level legacy wastes, with consultation at all stages of the process and compensation, is being ignored when it comes to wastes from any new nuclear power stations. Communities at the new sites will simply have high-level waste storage foisted on them.
Sailors stage vigil at Bradwell
On Sunday, 9 August, a flotilla of 20 boats, many with colourful banners saying ‘Save the Blackwater estuary and ‘No to new nuclear’ and flying yellow and white sheets from their masts, sailed from West Mersea and other locations on the Blackwater to Bradwell. The 50 or so sailors on board were protesting against the new nuclear power station and highly radioactive nuclear waste store proposed for the Bradwell site.
Several of the boats sailed along the West Mersea shore in front of protesters and holiday makers before heading over to Bradwell and anchoring in front of the old station.
Some of the sailors landed on the Bradwell beach and asked those who were there enjoying the beautiful weather to sign the BANNG (Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group) petition. The petition asks the Government to reject the proposal to build a new station and demands that the old station site be returned to greenfield within 25 years of closure, as originally proposed, and not the 100 years it is reported it will now take.
Varrie Blowers, the Secretary of BANNG said: ‘We believe that what is proposed would have a detrimental impact on the environment and marine ecology of the vulnerable Blackwater estuary, particularly on its oyster, fish and huge overwintering bird populations. The estuary is a beautiful amenity which is enjoyed by sailors and members of the public alike. All those who love and fear for the Blackwater need to protest at these proposals.
BANNG believes that the Bradwell site is particularly unsuitable for a new nuclear power station and waste store. As well as being on a shallow estuary, it is liable to flooding and increased incidence of storm surges as a result of climate change. We are particularly opposed to the production of yet more highly radioactive spent fuel which would have to be stored on site for more than 100 years, when there is not even a solution in prospect for dealing with the wastes that already exist’.
Charles Clark, who organised the vigil, said: ‘The vigil is the second in a series of protests organised by BANNG. The first, before Easter, drew attention to the impossibility of evacuating Mersea Island in the event of a nuclear incident. The purpose of Sunday’s vigil was to draw attention to the potential impact of the proposals on the Blackwater estuary itself. We were very pleased with the turnout of boats and sailors and the positive reaction of people on the Bradwell beach to the petition’.
For further information about BANNG and the petition, please see the BANNG website (www.banng.org.uk) or contact Varrie Blowers (Tel.: 07932.644482).
Bradwell operator guilty of 14-year radioactive leak
Terry Macalister - guardian.co.uk - Friday 6 February 2009
The nuclear power industry suffered an embarrassing blow today when the operator of the Bradwell-on-Sea plant was found guilty of allowing a radioactive leak to continue for 14 years.
Magnox Electric Ltd, the operator of the site, denied some of the allegations but was found guilty of breaking the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 over the way it dealt with waste on the premises.
The Environment Agency, which brought the company to court, said the case demonstrated how the operator had failed to carry out inspections on a holding tank between 1990 and 2004. The company pleaded guilty to two separate offences for failing to maintain the tank..............link to full article
BANNG comments that ‘The leak occurred over 28 years. There’s no way of knowing precisely what volumes leaked and how far they travelled. In any case this demonstrates the difficulties in maintaining and regulating a complex plant without incident over the long term. There is no reason to believe that a future plant would be operated safely throughout its lifetime and every reason to believe that incidents, minor or more problematic, will occur sooner or later.
A second point is that this incident was not revealed immediately to the public. There is something sinister and worrying about an industry that chooses not to reveal potentially harmful incidents.’
Dr Ian Fairlie - Consultant on Radiation in the Environment - was asked to comment on the statement made by the Environment Agency on the leak - read his comments - here.
Magnox South Meeting on Decommissioning
A meeting was held by Magnox South on Monday 9th February 2009 in the Church Hall of St. Peter and St. Paul, West Mersea - refreshments at 6.30 p.m. with start at 7 p.m. - to inform residents of ‘progress’ on decommissioning of the old power station.
This meetingl provided an opportunity for residents to probe the Bradwell site staff and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on the progress with decommissioning, the status of land transactions and the future of new nuclear build..........Report to follow.........
Andrew courts nuclear meltdown at the Palace
Oliver Marre - The Observer, Sunday 11 January 2009 What is Prince Andrew's new year's resolution? Not, it seems, to be any less controversial than he was in 2008. This column has learnt of a plan to hold a gala lunch on 5 February at Buckingham Palace for heavy hitters in the nuclear industry, which is, according to critics, a startlingly fraught arena for a member of the royal family to enter...........link to full article
why dump on us? By Andrew Blowers
Andrew Blowers looks at the siting process for new nuclear reactors and finds power, profit and pragmatism dictating the siting criteria and a return to the ‘decide-announce-defend’ approach to decision-making...........................link to full article
Planning Act removes democratic decision making
At the end of November 2008 the Planning Bill completed the parliamentary process to become law. This legislation removes a historic democratic decision-making process about major infrastructure projects such as nuclear power stations..............Link to Friends of the Earth article
BERR Press Release 27 January (Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform)
MARKET RESEARCH STANDARDS BOARD ruling
GORDON BROWN’S public consultation on nuclear power was fixed by the market research company which carried out the polling, according to the official trade body.
In an explosive ruling with profound implications for energy policy, the Market Research Standards Board has found that in the consultation conducted by Opinion Leader Research, “information was inaccurately or misleadingly presented,or was imbalanced, which gave rise to a material risk of respondents being led towards a particular answer.” The ruling follows a complaint from Greenpeace.
The ruling can be found at:
