The UK government has announced that Sizewell C is to become the latest in the UK’s new generation of nuclear power stations. The manufacturing cost has been estimated at £14.5bn for the first four years, with the full amount unknown. The project will take approximately 10 years to build, with a completion date of 2035 at the earliest.
It’s been described as a carbon-copy of Hinkley Point C – but there is one major difference. Under current plans an Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) is not included in the mitigation measures.
Large quantities of commercially valuable fish are present in the area, and an AFD is key to the protection of fragile species such as herring and sprat from the station’s cooling water intakes, which have an estimated survival rate of 0% if they are drawn into the cooling water system. Herring and sprat will make up an estimated 75% of all the fish drawn into the new Sizewell C intake and without the installation of an AFD millions of fish will be killed every year.
Including an AFD into the Development Consent Order (DCO) for Sizewell C would have helped reduce the entrainment of herring, sprat and other fish into the intake, and now the government is taking a stronger role in building Sizewell C we urge the government to follow UK Best Practice and install an Acoustic Fish Deterrent.
Deploying the Best Available Technology
Sizewell C represents a significant capacity increase on the two previous stations at this site. It will require huge volumes of seawater for plant cooling, drawn from intakes situated 3km offshore.
However, the Environment Agency has expressed concern over the removal of AFD technology on the project’s cooling water system.
Previous Environment Agency reports have confirmed direct seawater cooling as the Best Available Technology for the new nuclear plant, with an AFD and a Fish Recovery and Return system working in tandem. However, if Sizewell C has to rely on the suggested Fish Recovery and Return system alone then UK experts are agreed that none of the fragile herring and sprat can be expected to survive.
Understanding the impact
At Hinkley, an AFD was approved because it provides a warning signal to approaching fish, allowing them to detect and avoid the intake.
Similar measures at Sizewell C could save millions of fish each year over the 60-year lifespan of the station, as well as ensuring more effective cooling operations.
“These decisions will shape the future of aquatic protections at UK power stations for at least the next 60 years, and almost certainly beyond. We should not let the advances in environmental protection that have been made through careful research and development slip away because the industry prefers to take the easy route.”
Dr Andy Turnpenny, Fisheries Scientist
The government is now in firm control of the Sizewell C project and is continuing to look for backers. Britain is built on world-leading innovation and leading the way on environmental protections. The installation of the AFD at Sizewell would be a step in the right direction and show the world that Britain takes it’s obligations to the oceans seriously.
