29th November 2008

Gloucestershire Greens have expressed dismay at Government plans to sell off land at Oldbury to build a second nuclear reactor. The state-owned Nuclear  Decommissioning Authority (NDA) this week set in motion the auction of land adjacent to  Oldbury and two other UK nuclear power stations (Photo: Oldbury with Kapow projected onto it by Greenpeace campaigners).

German energy giant  E.ON has  already declared an interest in building a reactor at the site and agreed  with National Grid to establish new upgraded connections to the power  grid. Greens have previously expressed concerns that E.ON are also purshasing privately owned land in the area (i).

Photo: See key below - this is a page from FOI released booklet re NDA sale

Greens have argued along with Shut Oldbury campaigners that a new reactor on the Severn could be dangerous  (ii) and harmful to local people's health (iii). They add that the NDA is jumping  the gun as the results of a consultation on potential nuclear sites have not  yet been announced.

Cllr Martin Whiteside, Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Stroud who attended the recent meeting of the Oldbury power station and Berkeley nuclear licensed site joint stakeholder group, said: "A new power station would have to be built on an adjoining site to Oldbury. This clearly a very misguided move. Both the economic and environmental case for nuclear cannot be made. It is time those MPs, like David Drew, who support nuclear power listened to the Government's own advisors, the Sustainable Development Commission, and put an end to plans to build more nukes at Oldbury and other sites."

Two reactor designs are  currently being examined by nuclear safety  inspectors but have not yet been built. One, the European Pressurised Reactor, is in progress  in Finland and France but has been subject to long delays and  controversy  over poor construction standards (iv). It is expected to use more  dangerous  'high burn-up' fuel with nearly double the radioactivity of existing  reactors. This would also mean the spent fuel would be stored for much longer than  the expected life of 55 to 60 years at the Oldbury site. The only alternative design, the  Westinghouse AP1000 has 'novel'  cost-cutting safety features that have not  been tried in a reactor and would eliminate  70 percent of the standard safety  mechanisms thought essential in the UK's  last nuclear reactor, Sizewell B. Both reactors would pour radioactive  waste into the Severn and into the  atmosphere, potentially causing health  effects in those living nearby. Local studies sponsored by the Shut Oldbury Campaign have shown extra breast and prostate cancers and leukaemia in nearby  populations.

The Government closed its 'Strategic  Siting Assessment' consultation at the end of November and is unlikely to  announce its findings till 2010. The NDA  plan seems to predict the outcome of  this consultation by offering Oldbury for  sale to nuclear developers. Campaigners have said in their submission that estuary sites such as Oldbury and  Hinkley are unsuitable due to the health  impact on local populations observed in  numerous studies. Moreover they are close to large populations which would be impossible to evacuate in the event of  a serious accident or act of terrorism. Oldbury is just 16 miles from Stroud, 12 miles from Bristol city centre and and six miles from its suburbs.

The NDA's purpose is to decommission  and clean up old nuclear sites paid for by Government funds but also by  generating electricity from Oldbury and Wylfa (in Wales) nuclear power stations  and operating reprocessing plants at  Sellafield. Despite high electricity prices, Oldbury's contribution has been  minimal due to only running one of its  twin reactors at a time for five years due  to safety concerns. The NDA's income has also been afflicted by the closure  of THORP reprocessing plant which shut  for three years due to a massive  unseen radioactive leak. So the NDA is  trying to raise cash towards its estimated  £83 billion clean-up operation  by selling land to build more nuclear power stations.

Philip Booth, a Stroud District councillor (Green) added: "Just last week Government lawyers have warned ministers that legal challenges could delay plans for the construction of nuclear power stations, noting for example that the "environmental assessment is potentially a source of delay and challenge" (v). Indeed already last year the government was defeated in the first legal challenge to its nuclear plans - the High Court branded the consultation on the nuclear policy a sham, forcing the department for business to restart the process. Even if all goes to plans the Government's own advisors say nuclear power is not the answer to tackle climate change. We need to instead invest in real renewables."

Jim Duffy, Coordinator of the Shut  Oldbury Campaign said:  "The cash-strapped NDA is trying to  solve its funding problems by selling  land which has higher value for building  new nuclear power stations. But this will mean even more expensive clean-up and nuclear waste management in the future which is a gamble as new operators could  go bankrupt, as both BNFL and British Energy did, leaving taxpayers with  the cost again. Besides building a giant reactor  with its dangerous fuel so close to a city  is just asking for trouble  and will also effectively make Oldbury a nuclear  dump for generations. The  health effects of local radiation pollution will  add to the existing toll  of cancers and leukaemia. Nuclear expansion at Oldbury  is a very bad idea. Let's  strive for cleaner, safer means of producing our  electricity." 

Details of the land for sale was gained by Greenpeace using Freedom of Information (vi).

Notes:

Special thanks to Shut Oldbury campaign for much of the information in this news release.

(i) http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/content/view/2183/2/

(ii) Outline of safety concerns over the European Pressurised Reactor by Dr John Large, nuclear consultant who was in Stroud to sahe these concerns last year:
http://www.largeassociates.com/Hinkley/Hinkley%20-%20October-final-summary.pdf

(iii) Stop Hinkley response to the  Stategic Siting Assessment consultation:
_http://www.stophinkley.org/EngRevu/SSAConsultResponse.pdf_
(http://www.stophinkley.org/EngRevu/SSAConsultResponse.pdf)

(iv) Greenpeace article on  construction problems with the EPR
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/about/double-whammy-to-epr-sites-in-france-and-finland20080625

(v) See also Greenpeace comment here.

(vi) NDA slides on actual land for sale (see attached) - Greenpeace got them under FOI - see more:
http://www.nda.gov.uk/news/land-disposal.cfm

Legend for attached NDA slides re Oldbury photo
- green hatching - all silt dump, designated and licensed but never used for nuclear activities.
- red hatching - NDA land for sale - goes across part of the Severn bottom
- yellow (with reactor outline shown) and yellow criss-cross lines - licensed and designated - may want to keep criss-crossed bit for access re. decomm activities, blue will be retained.
- Big yellow chunk to west of the site is a reservoir may be leased back? Depends on reactor operations.

Land being bought by EON mainly to the North-East (local info)

Potential  nuclear reactor sites go up for sale
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/27/nuclear-power-land-sale-energy#history-byline