Together Against Sizewell C - Newsletter April 22

Posted: 24th April 2022

Join a two-mile protest march from Leiston to Sizewell beach

Sunday 15 May 2022
Meet from 9.30am in Victory Road Recreation Ground, Leiston.

At 10am we will move off to march to Sizewell beach which is a little over 2 miles and will take about 1 hour to walk.

There will be a rally on Sizewell Beach between 11:15am and 12: noon.

A coach will be available to take people back to Leiston.

A local landowner has kindly provided a field for parking at top of Church Road (IP16 4HL) which is a short walk from Victory Road Rec. Please arrive before 9.30 so as not to disrupt St Margarets Church congregation.

We would like to have lots of different banners to show the diversity of opposition to Sizewell C. You can find inspiration here on how to make your own banner or placard.

This demonstration is being organized together with Stop Sizewell C. For more information please visit: https://tasizewellc.org.uk/joint-gathering-with-stop-sizewell-c/ or https://stopsizewellc.org/march/

Please help us publicise this event by sharing on Facebook or retweeting.

How Much Will Nuclear Cost You?

We will have to pay for nuclear power in three ways: direct investment by the government paid from your taxes; an increase in your electricity bill, via RAB, during the 10/12-year construction period before the nuclear plant starts producing electricity; and the final cost of the electricity.

Direct Investment 

Although the government does not want to put a significant amount of the cost of Sizewell C onto its balance sheet, it recently announced a £100million cash injectioni designed to ‘maximise investor confidence’, while NNB generation (a partnership between EDF and China General Nuclear) courts private investors. The cash injection would either be repaid, or the government could take a stake in the project. However, if further funding was not secured, the government could take over the project.

This funding is separate from the £1.7billion pledged last Octoberii.

On top of this, the government is also funding research and development of new nuclear technology and increasing the nuclear skills base.

Regulated Asset Base (RAB)

The government has introduced a new way of funding future nuclear power stations – the Regulated Asset Base. More detailed information about RAB can be found elsewhereiii,iv. It will mean that we will start paying for the new reactors, estimated at over £80 per year, via our electricity bills.

A similar financing scheme, called Early Cost Recovery was tried in the USA. Originally 31 reactors were awaiting approval but 29 were dropped leaving two. The Vogtle plant in Georgia has doubled its original cost estimate to $27.5 billion, with the reactors expected at least five years behind schedule. U.S. electricity customers are exposed to paying more than $10 billion for cancelled nuclear plants and another $13.5 billion in cost-overruns. Florida and South Carolina have repealed the laws allowing early cost recovery. No states have enacted such laws in the last decade.

Final Cost of Electricity

Nuclear is one of the most expensive ways of generating electricity, according to recent analysis by the respected asset management company Lazardv:

Energy Source

Average Levelized Cost /MWh

Utility Scale Solar

£25

Onshore Wind

£29

Offshore Wind

£64

Nuclear

£129

What has TASC been up to?

Challenging the Development Consent Order (DCO)

The last two years have involved a lot of work for TASC. In May 2020 EDF submitted their documents to the Planning Inspectorate (PINs) for the Development Consent Order (DCO). The documents consisted of over 57,000 pages. This was not an easy job and TASC are indebted to members of the team who gave so much of their time to the cause.

Although EDF had been planning the project for nearly 10 years, they continued to submit many more, non-material and material changes to the DCO, including a highly polluting desalination plant. 

TASC has sought legal advice, engaged with planners, environmentalists and fish experts. We have presented evidence to the Planning Inspectorate, along with many others, to help build an overwhelming case against granting Sizewell C planning consent. 

Members of TASC, along with strong local support, spent many hours listening and participating in the Issue Specific Hearings (ISH). Listening to local people talk about the impact this massive, destructive build will have on their lives and the area they love, was often distressing and not one member of the public turned up in favour of the project.

More information and documents about the planning can be found here although some of TASC’s responses can be found on our website.

TASC Out and About

Last September, TASC joined our friends from Stop Sizewell C for ‘The Wall’ protest on Sizewell beach. About 600 people turned up for rousing speeches from Pete Wilkinson (TASC) and Alison Downes (SSC) then the hoards spread out along the length of the Coastal Path that is due to disappear under sea defences up to 14m high.

In February, TASC sent a representative to speak at the joint Parish and Town Council meeting that took place at Snape Maltings. Declan Burke, from The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), was invited to the meeting and was also taken on a tour of the area, including RSPB Minsmere. He left the meeting in no doubt that local councils and NGO’s do not want Sizewell C. 

Secretary of State Kwasi Kwarteng has, so far refused all invites to the area to meet campaigners. Well not quite, he managed a flying visit to the Sizewell Nuclear site, to gift £100m of taxpayers’ money to the failing French company, EDF. He sped in and out, without even a wave to the 100 anti-SZC campaigners, who at very short notice, lined the entrance to SZB

At the end of March, TASC & Stop Sizewell C joined forces at the ‘Discover Leiston’ event. The following weekend we attended the 2-day Woodbridge Green Event and the famous ‘TASC White Elephant’ made a welcome return. More information can be found on our website.

Find out more / Support us

A huge thank you to all our friends and supporters, the fight continues.

Please donate to our fighting fund via PayPal or using the details on the Contact Us page.

Find out more – visit our website, like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.

www.tasizewellc.org.uk

TogetherAgainstSizewellC

@SayNo2SizewellC