East Suffolk Council
Hinkley Point C Study
EDF Energy’s sister project to Sizewell C is Hinkley Point C in Somerset. The Development Consent Order for this was granted in March 2013. The Secretary of State’s decision letter and the panel report to the Secretary of State may be of interest. There is a great deal of other information on the process of the Hinkley proposal on the Planning Inspectorate's website.
East Suffolk Council and Suffolk County Council, as part of the New Nuclear Local Authorities Group have co-funded a new study on the impacts of the early stage construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.
We will look forward to using the learning from this study to feed into discussion around the Sizewell C development. The study was independently undertaken by the Impact Assessment Unit of Oxford Brookes University, led by Professor John Glasson.
The study will help to inform the way that future new nuclear power station developments, at Sizewell C and elsewhere in the UK, and other Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP), are developed, consented and governed. The Hinkley Point C project was one of the first NSIPs to be consented and has been under construction since 2012.
It offers therefore the best opportunity to learn about the scale, nature and extent of the likely impacts of nuclear new builds, and to gather both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the impact in practice.
The Hinkley Point C project was a first of its kind – the first major NSIP to be determined through the Planning Act 2008, and the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK since the 1980s. It did not have the benefit of similar projects to help shape measurement and governance. Future projects can and should be learning from the experience at Hinkley Point C, and this study will facilitate such learning.
The Impact Assessment Unit research team included: Professor John Glasson, Dr Bridget Durning, visiting Professor Martin Broderick and Ms Kellie Welch.
The New Nuclear Local Authorities Group (NNLAG) is a Local Government Association Special Interest Group, consisting of fifteen Local Authorities from across the UK that already host or are likely to host nuclear new build projects. NNLAG’s purpose is for local authorities to share knowledge, information and best practice regarding new nuclear, and to provide a mechanism for local authorities, as elected representatives of local areas, to discuss and make representations direct to Government regarding the development of new nuclear and of nuclear-related connection/transmission projects.
NNLAG’s member local authorities are: Allerdale Borough Council, Isle of Anglesey County Council, Copeland Borough Council, Cumbria County Council, East Suffolk Council, Essex County Council, Lancaster City Council, Maldon District Council, Sedgemoor District Council, Folkestone & Hythe District Council, Somerset County Council, South Gloucestershire Council, Suffolk County Council, and Somerset West & Taunton Council. NNLAG is currently chaired by the Isle of Anglesey Council.