Energy Secretary Ed Davey has announced that planning consent has been granted to energy firm EDF to construct a new £14 billion nuclear power plant in Somerset. This is the first of a planned new generation of nuclear plants in the UK.
The new Hinkley Point C plant will be capable of powering five million homes and, Mr Davey claims, will help meet the Government's energy and policy objectives.
He said, "The planning decision to give consent to Hinkley Point C follows a rigorous examination from the Planning Inspectorate, and detailed analysis within my department." The application was, according to the chief executive of the Planning Inspectorate, the largest application to be handled by them under the Planning Act 2008. Mr Davey added, "This planned project adds to a number of new energy projects consented since May 2010, including wind farms and biomass and gas-fired power stations."
The construction of the plant will provide construction jobs and jobs will be eventually created in the power station itself.
However, Greenpeace's executive director, John Sauven, expressed several concerns before the proposal had even been granted consent. "It will lock a generation of consumers into higher energy bills, via a strike price that's expected to be double the current price of electricity, and it will distort energy policy by displacing newer, cleaner, cheaper technologies. With companies now saying the price of offshore wind will drop so much it will be on par with nuclear by 2020, there is no rationale for allowing Hinkley Point C to proceed."
He continued, "Giving it the green light when there is no credible plan for dealing with the waste could also be in breach of the law."
