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Greens vow to step up campaign against new nuclear plants in East Anglia [News release]

As expected, list of sites for possible deployment by 2025 includes Bradwell and Sizewell
 
The list of potential sites for new nuclear power stations announced recently (1) includes both Bradwell in Essex and Sizewell in Suffolk, as was widely expected.
 
Public consultation lasts just 1 month, and there is bound to be widespread concern as to whether any level of public response will change any decisions, compounded by the new national planning regime which will take decision making away from local communities and hand it over to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC)  (2).
 
Following the assessment period, sites that are "found to be suitable for the development of new nuclear power stations" will be listed in a draft Nuclear National Policy statement.

The Green Party has long campaigned against nuclear power due to its high cost and the unsolved problems with radioactive waste and risks of radioactive discharges. There also remains a small, but real risk of a catastrophic accident or terrorist attack, which could cause huge loss of life and result in large areas of East Anglia becoming uninhabitable.
 
Only recently, the operators of the Bradwell nuclear power station were found guilty of having allowed discharges of radioactive material over long periods into the estuary of the River Blackwater. Coastal nuclear sites are more vulnerable to flooding as sea-levels rise faster than IPCC predictions, combined with an increase in extreme weather conditions.

The Greens are also dismayed that concentration on nuclear power by the Labour Government will take available investment and infrastructure away from renewables. A new generation of nuclear power stations would use valuable coastal high-capacity connectors to the grid, connectors which would otherwise be used for offshore wind, wave and tidal, making it more likely that the UK will miss legal commitments on renewables for 2020. Eastern Region Green Party is dismayed that the huge opportunity for jobs in renewables in this Region, especially in coastal areas, will be squandered, if the money goes to nuclear instead and the party will be writing to object to the proposed sites and encouraging many others to do the same.

The full list of nominated sites is:
 
1. Bradwell, Essex, NDA
2. Braystones, Cumbria, RWE Npower
3. Dungeness, Kent, EDF Energy
4. Hartlepool, EDF Energy
5. Heysham, Lancashire, EDF Energy
6. Hinkley Point, Somerset, EDF Energy
7. Kirksanton, Cumbria, RWE Npower
8. Oldbury, Gloucestershire, the NDA and Eon
9. Sellafield, Cumbria, NDA
10. Sizewell, Suffolk, EDF Energy
11. Wylfa, North Wales, RWE Npower and the NDA
ENDS 
Notes:
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