Representation by Margaret Wendy Colles
- Date submitted
- 16 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I wish to state that I am opposed to the construction of Sizewell C and its 2 nuclear power station on just about every ground I can think of. We have lived in Suffolk for 40 years and have seen many changes. The offshore wind farms have impacted the countryside but mainly been handled sensitively with cables buried underground so that pylons are not needed. I appreciate that the electricity supply needs to be protected for the future but would argue that with modern generation techniques this large nuclear power station is in danger of becoming obsolete before it is completed. The new E.P.Rs have been trouble prone and subject to delays and vast increases in cost. The recently announced withdrawal of the Japanese company Hitachi from the Wylfa site in Anglesey after a long pause and much expenditure is an indicator of the changed world economy and at a time when we shall be in deep debt and recession for many years as a result of Covid 19 there are better ways of spending £20billion. Since this power station was proposed there have been reductions in use of electricity because of improved technologies and now, with the development of much more efficient solar panels, wind power and research into improved battery storage, Nuclear power with its dangers and problems of storage of nuclear waste begins to look like a very expensive and dangerous dinosaur. The involvement of the Chinese CGN company in our nuclear power generation as at Hinckley Point is very controversial and in view of the authoritative and secret way that country is governed and the delay in informing the world about Coronavirus it is best not to allow them any control on such a potentially dangerous project. The involvement of the French EDF company makes the whole project more expensive as the agreed payment of £92.5 per Megawatt Hour generated for 35 years will be a huge cost to British Customers and the construction costs at Hinckley Point have already increased hugely with no end in sight. We already have 2 nuclear power stations at Sizewell with resultant scars on the landscape even after one has been decommissioned. The proposal now is for two more reactors .In previous letters I have highlighted the damage to our beautiful coast and countryside by 10 years at least of construction and congested roads plus the effect on our wildlife and very valuable tourist economy. These treasures are particularly valuable now because of the strange new world we find ourselves in. This present government has got so many things disastrously wrong from HS2, to Brexit and to the chaotic handling of the pandemic that it does not inspire any confidence in its judgement or ability. To cancel this project would go some way to restoring its reputation.