The Environment Agency has launched a consultation on an application for an environmental permit for cooling water discharges from the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C.
The Agency is seeking comments on an application by NNB Generation Company Limited for an environmental permit for cooling water and liquid effluent discharges into the Severn estuary from the operation of its proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C. NNB Generation Company Limited is a joint venture between EDF Energy and Centrica.
The source of the discharge includes cooling water from operation of the turbine condensers of the power station and process effluents from water treatment.
The Agency must decide whether to grant or refuse the issue of a permit. If it grants a permit, it must decide what conditions it should include to ensure proper protection of people and the environment .
Brian Payne for the Environment Agency said:
‘We welcome people’s views on this application and will carefully consider their comments before we progress to the next stage of our decision making process.’
‘This application relates to the discharge of cooling water and process effluent during operation of the power station. Our next stage will be to conduct a further consultation on our draft decision for this application when members of the public will have another opportunity to provide us with comments.’
The Environment Agency is already consulting on two other applications for environmental permits that would be required to operate the proposed station; one relating to discharges and disposals of radioactive waste, and the other for standby power supplies. The Agency is planning to conduct further consultations on these two operational applications in 2012.
The Agency is also consulting on a separate application for an environmental permit for waste water discharges arising during construction of the proposed power station. It is also assessing the EPR power station design in its Generic Design Assessment work.
Deadline for responses to the consultation is 15th December.
The applications for Hinkley Point C can be viewed at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/hinkleypoint