EDF's planned nuclear power plant, Hinkley Point C, has become embroiled in fresh controversy after it was discovered that the nuclear experts who helped review the plans receive EDF pensions.
Safety regulation concerns regarding the new European pressurised reactors planned for use at Hinkley Point C led to the reviews being carried out in the public eye, with the French state-owned energy group coming out successful.
Now, accusations that several safety factors were ignored to make the UK deadline for the plans possible.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) declined to comment on the issue saying it was a matter for the Office of Nuclear Regulation which operated independently from Government.
Cedrec's take
Controversy is never a good thing, especially when it concerns the safety and wellbeing of staff and residents. Hinkley Point C will be a very large site, with the Government hoping it will carry the burden of power demand when the coal and atomic power plants come to the end of their lives.
We have seen three reactors shut down, in Hinkley and Hartlepool, this year due to safety concerns. Each time an incident like this occurs, public confidence in nuclear power drops further. Nuclear power disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima still follow the minds and memories of many people, and effects are still felt, with Chernobyl still deemed uninhabitable more than twenty years following the explosion.
Critics are also pointing out that, with safety regulations to be met, the project could run over-budget and even then, possibly fail entirely.
