Edited from various media sources:
The application to build a new UK nuclear power station has been accepted for examination by the planning inspectorate. Plans for the Sizewell C plant on the Suffolk coast were put forward by EDF Energy after being mooted 10 years ago. The acceptance means an examining authority will now be appointed to scrutinize the application, with the government having final decision. Stop Sizewell C (SSC) group said it will continue to fight the application.
However, EDF has now admitted that its proposed nuclear plant in Suffolk will cost £20 billion, far more than had been anticipated. The costs of new nuclear plants are under intense scrutiny after huge increases at other projects, including the Hinkley Point C project EDF is building in Somerset, which is Britain’s first new nuclear plant in a generation. At Hinkley, EDF is liable for the multi-billion pound cost overruns, in return for a subsidy contract guaranteeing it a high fixed price for the electricity it eventually generates. The government is considering a new funding model EDF has proposed for Sizewell under which consumers would start paying for the plant while it is under construction and share in the cost overruns. EDF has said that this will enable it to generate electricity more cheaply.
EDF had previously suggested the plant could be built for 20% less than Hinkley Point C. This implied a cost of about £18bn. The revelation will reignite a furious debate about large nuclear stations. Some backbench Conservative MPs have concerns about the involvement of the Chinese company, CGN. Doug Parr of Greenpeace UK said that the industry’s claim that it can make the next nuclear station cheaper was “just never true”.