UK government approves 10 new nuclear station sites

The UK government has permitted 10 locations in Wales and England as new sites for nuclear energy stations. However, it has rejected the proposed site in Dungeness, Kent on environmental grounds.

Ed Miliband, Secretary of Energy, informed that a new Infrastructure Planning Commission will make assessments on the received proposals within a year.

The 10 sites considered suitable for future nuclear power plants are: Wylfa in North Wales, Sizewell in Suffolk, Oldbury in Gloucestershire, Hinkley Point in Somerset, Heysham in Lancashire, Hartlepool, Kirksanton and Sellafield in Cumbria, Braystones, and Bradwell in Essex.

Among the proposed locations, seven sites have nuclear plants already, while Bradwell was home to a past nuclear facility. Meanwhile, Kirksanton and Braystones are the only new spots under consideration. Dungeness was however discarded due to worries of coastal erosion and flooding.

Many of the UK’s ageing nuclear facilities will be decommissioned by 2023, leading to some experts worried about power shortage if energy capacity is not added. As a result, the UK government decided in 2008 to proceed with the construction of new nuclear stations.

Meanwhile, several green organizations did not agree with the building of nuclear energy stations, saying that the projects are expensive. Ben Ayliffe from Greenpeace said that the government cannot justify putting up more nuclear plants when there is no solution to radioactive waste and when regulators are saying that there are many doubts surrounding the safety of new reactor designs.

Plans for nuclear plants in Scotland, which has two existing sites, were also opposed by the SNP government.