Sizewell C build looking very vulnerable from a raging sea!
Posted: 26th February 2026
Dear friends and supporters, it is with great sorrow that we have to inform you that our appeal against the Secretary of State, Ed Miliband’s, decision not to give public scrutiny and assessment of Sizewell C’s secret sea defences has been refused. We are, however, thankful that our legal challenge has helped to expose the Sizewell C project’s lack of resilience to extreme climate change.
We should all fear for the safety of our descendants and the precious Suffolk coastline because this judgement leaves future generations to rely on the developer’s ‘hypothetical’ i.e. ’imaginary or suggested’, unassessed sea defences to protect Sizewell C and its 3,900 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel from flooding in an extreme sea level rise scenario over the next 150 years. This decision rules out consideration of alternatives, such as raising the platform height, an option that will be lost once the plant has been built – a raised platform height will likely be less impactful on the environment and would negate the need for future generations to build the two additional huge sea defences.
We all know that Sizewell C is sited on one of Europe’s fastest eroding coastlines. Recent rapid erosion at nearby Thorpeness has resulted in many homes having to be demolished, and in front of the Sizewell C development site itself, the beach may need to be replenished before the nuclear plant has even been built – demonstrating that the threat of erosion is real and immediate and should be a wake-up call for the government that Sizewell is not a suitable site for new nuclear.
This week, members of TASC and Stop Sizewell C met with a journalist from the FT and walked along the coastal path in front of the C site. The sea was raging, waves crashing against the crumbling dunes, highlighting how vulnerable the C site is to the advancing North Sea.
Press Release in full
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our supporters and friends for their help and generosity over the years. TASC is proud to have highlighted many problems with the Sizewell C build, and with your help, financed several court cases and though they have not been successful, we have highlighted the fact that there was/is no guaranteed sustainable potable water supply essential to enable the power station to operate, nuclear waste will be stored on site until 2160, not 2140 as was stated by EDF and the recent case of the ‘secret sea defences’ that may be needed in the future and should have been included in the DCO examination. However, our work is not done and we will continue to monitor the situation as time goes on, especially with the chaos caused daily by road closures and disruptions, not to mention the harm to the local environment.
How vulnerable is the Sizewell C site?
Here we go again…more delays and escalating costs at Hinkley Point C
Another year and another £1.4bn added to the final start-up of Hinkley Point C. With the final price tag rising to £48bn at today’s prices, partly due to problems with the electromechanical installation, the start-up for the first reactor has been delayed yet again to 2030, five years later than the original 2025 online date set when the project was approved in 2016.
EDF also confirmed that Hinkley Point C has received £1.6bn (yes billion) from Sizewell C, in return for the expertise it supplied to the so-called ‘replica’ project here in Suffolk. It is claimed that Sizewell C’s costs, currently projected at £38bn (2024 prices), should benefit from ‘lessons learned from Hinkley construction.
Don’t hold your breath.
This issue was covered by numerous news outlets, including the Construction Enquirer and The Guardian
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