TASC Press Release
31st July 2023
Another kick in the teeth for UK taxpayers as EDF pockets another £170m of public money for their Sizewell C White Elephant.
In another lame attempt to prop up French adventurism into the UK’s energy sector, the UK government has handed a further £170m from the public purse (note 1) to EDF. With the CGN buy-out costing UK plc close to £700m and subsequent ‘encouragements’ to tempt reluctant investors to part with funding for the doomed development at Sizewell, this brings the total amount of public money handed over to EDF close to £1bn.
East Suffolk residents could be forgiven for thinking that Sizewell C is ‘shovel ready’: it is not. It is, in fact, a long way from the Final Investment Decision (FID), the point at which construction can begin. Even if the UK government and EDF can each stump up £6bn the project will still be 60% short of the estimated £30bn – a matter of £18bn to find. But that’s not all: dozens of licences and permits have yet to be issued by the regulatory authorities, including the site licence from the Office of Nuclear Regulation, and there is the small matter of finding 2.2 million litres of mains water every day for 60 years of operation here in the driest county in the country, already experiencing drought conditions.
Jenny Kirtley, Chair of Together Against Sizewell C (TASC), said today, ‘Government is using taxpayer money to directly fund the destruction of habitat within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Despite TASC’s legal challenge fighting the decision to give the go ahead for Sizewell C, our appeal against that ruling being still in the balance, yet even in the face of all the hurdles the project has still to jump, EDF blithely ploughs on with its preparatory work, ripping the heart out of our fragile environment, increasing anxiety for residents, largely financed by the government. If EDF had a shred of decency, it would do the right thing and halt further work until the site licence is granted, a supply of mains water has been secured, permits issued, and the outcome of the judicial review appeal is known. If Sizewell C doesn’t get regulatory approval or sufficient investment – still entirely possible outcomes – we will be left with a diminished Heritage Coast and find UK plc £1bn worse off. Just think what we could have done to drive down demand for electricity with a billion pounds. Monsieur Macron must be laughing all the way to the bank.’
Notes:-
1. Government press release 24th July 2023 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-steps-to-speed-up-construction-work-at-sizewell-c in which it states “Ministers today confirmed a further £170 million investment of previously allocated funding for development work on the project. This will be used to prepare the Sizewell C site for future construction, procure key components from the project’s supply chain, and expand its workforce.”
