All posts by Alison Downes

NGOs urge Chancellor not to allow China back into UK nuclear projects

For immediate release, 9 January 2025
NGO members of the DESNZ Nuclear NGO Forum [1] call on the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, not to allow China back into the UK’s nuclear industry during her forthcoming visit. NGOs cited energy and national security concerns, and warned of the danger in using money from a state that does not share British values to prop up the nuclear industry, UK nuclear being unable to provide value for money or be a solution to the climate emergency.
The Chancellor is believed to be seeking Chinese investment into the UK, but there is no information as to whether nuclear energy is on her agenda. State-owned China General Nuclear (CGN) remains a partner with EDF in Hinkley Point C in Somerset. [2] However CGN was ejected by the last government from Sizewell C in Suffolk [3] and its proposals to build a reactor of its own design at Bradwell in Essex [4] are moribund.
“It would be an outrageous u-turn of true desperation if Rachel Reeves was to go cap in hand to China to find funders for Sizewell C” said Stop Sizewell C and Together Against Sizewell C. “Where is the energy security in a nuclear power plant funded by China? [5]  Ministers should recognise that Sizewell C is essentially unfinanceable, and call a halt to it right now.”
Stop Hinkley added: “The skyrocketing cost of Hinkley Point C – from £18 billion to over £40 billion in 11 years – is no justification to beg for Chinese money, especially when Hinkley C is highly unlikely to be generating electricity by the government’s target date of 2030 for decarbonising the UK’s electricity grid. [6] We urge the Chancellor to keep silent on nuclear energy during her visit.”
For more information contact:
Alison Downes, Stop Sizewell C
Chris Wilson, Together Against Sizewell C,
Katy Attwater, Stop Hinkley,
Notes
1. The DESNZ Nuclear NGO Forum members are: Low Level Radiation and Health Conference, Bradwell B Action Network, Stop Hinkley, Blackwater Against New Nuclear (BANNG), Stop Sizewell C, Cumbria Trust, Together Against Sizewell C (TASC), Ayrshire Radiation Monitoring Group, Highlands Against Nuclear Power, Nuclear Free Local Authorities, Friends of the Earth Nuclear Network, Low Level Radiation Campaign, West Cumbria and North Lakes Friends of the Earth, Stand Against Oldbury (STAND).
2. China General Nuclear (CGN) took a 33% share in financing Hinkley Point C until the initial investment ceiling of £18 billion[2015] was reached in January 2023. https://www.edf.fr/sites/groupe/files/2023-07/2023-07-27-half-year-results-book-presentation.pdf. CGN is understood not to have put any more money in since 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/hinkley-point-nuclear-plant-in-uk-stops-getting-funding-from-china-s-cgn, as the project’s expected total (overnight) costs have skyrocketed to well over £40 billion[2024].
3. CGN had a 20% share in Sizewell C November 2022 when the Conservative government bought it out, reportedly for over £100 million. https://www.ft.com/content/a9a34ea3-649f-4a47-a4c8-ee269e07eccc
4. In 2020 CGN had, as a major shareholder in partnership with EDF, begun a planning and consultation process at Bradwell B, proposing to build twin “UK Hualong” reactors with a total generating capacity of 2.2GW. CGN’s HPR1000 reactor design was granted Generic Design Approval by the Office for Nuclear Regulation in February 2022, but site planning ceased in February 2021.
5. House of Commons paper on UK China relations https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10029/
6. The Clean Power Plan 2030 does not assume that Hinkley is online by 203o, saying “there are uncertainties associated with having
Hinkley Point C online by the end of the decade, given delays in the past few years”. Page 80 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/677bc80399c93b7286a396d6/clean-power-2030-action-plan-main-report.pdf

Stop Sizewell C to challenge Sizewell C Nuclear Site Licence

Stop Sizewell C challenges Sizewell C Nuclear Site Licence
Campaigners question how the ONR can uphold the key licence without the licensed area including the sea defences, critical for keeping the site safe

For Immediate Release, 29 July 2024
For more information contact Alison Downes 07711 843884 or Paul Collins 07503 283304

[Suffolk] Stop Sizewell C has applied to the High Court for permission to challenge the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s (ONR) grant of a licence [1], to allow the construction and operation of Sizewell C. The claim points out that the boundary of the Nuclear Site Licence (NSL) does not cover the sea defences and proposed new flood barriers, critical for future site safety [2].

This challenge concerns the safety of the Sizewell C site in the age of climate change, with sea levels potentially rising further and faster than previously thought [3]. No satisfactory explanation has been given by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) for these vital elements of the Sizewell C project being excluded from the Nuclear Site Licence.

Alison Downes of Stop Sizewell C said “We remain opposed to Sizewell C going ahead at all, but if it does, it is incomprehensible that the Office for Nuclear Regulation does not have full control over parts of the site vital for site safety. How can a Final Investment Decision be made, or potential Investors make rational decisions about becoming part owners of this project without the assurance that the ONR has full regulatory control over the defences required to keep Sizewell C safe throughout its lifetime?

Paul Collins, Stop Sizewell C Chair said: “Construction has barely begun, yet we are already seeing changes to existing plans with the new flood barriers [4] planned north and south of the site. These were not part of the original permission and demonstrate that there is already concern about increasing threats to the site as climate change impacts accelerate. If Sizewell C went ahead the area would hold nuclear material until the latter half of the next century, therefore it is vital that the ONR’s regulatory remit is resolved without delay.”

Sizewell C is sited on the vulnerable Suffolk coast and requires both a Hard Coastal Defence Feature and Soft Coastal Defence Feature. Stop Sizewell C has long raised concerns about the threat of flooding (still water and coastal) to the Sizewell site [5].

Stop Sizewell C is represented by Richard Buxton Solicitors [6] and Philip Coppel KC. Stop Sizewell C is grateful for the support and solidarity of Together Against Sizewell C.

Notes
1. A redacted copy of the Sizewell C Nuclear Site Licence was initially not publicly available and had to be obtained through FoI. View here ONR Licence 104 – Sizewell C Ltd – Sizewell C_Redacted.pdf
2. Map of the NSL licence boundary available from sizewell-c-nuclear-site-licence-boundary.pdf (onr.org.uk)
3. See https://www.egu.eu/news/740/sea-level-will-rise-faster-than-previously-thought/ and https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/25/newly-identified-tipping-point-for-ice-sheets-could-mean-greater-sea-level-rise
4. See Appendix 3, page 38 of ONR Proportionate Reassessment of External Hazards https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.onr.org.uk%2Fmedia%2F1hwjiad5%2Fsizewell-c-nuclear-site-licence-proportionate-reassessment-external-hazards-2024.docx
5. https://stopsizewellc.org/coast/
6. Richard Buxton 07900 413762 rbuxton@richardbuxton.co.uk