7 hours ago
22
Forgive our tongue-in-check headline, but to the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities it appears from an announcement this week that Nuclear Waste Services has lost its preferred nuclear waste dump site in Lincolnshire.
After three years, the former Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal has seemingly slipped the leash of the Geological Disposal Facility and is now being petted by other energy projects, such as a plan to bring in carbon capture and storage technology to the site, which have the potential to be built out in a few years rather than a few decades. Sadly, there appears no prospect of a return to agricultural use as was promised by planners when operations ceased at the terminal.
In the recently published admission, NWS siting and communities Director Simon Hughes candidly advises that whilst the search had been focused on creating a surface site at the former gas terminal to receive shipments of high-level radioactive waste: ‘Over the past year, competing interests in the gas terminal site have matured and it is important we factor these into our approach. We are undertaking a range of studies in the search area and are considering other options for the GDF surface site.’
To the NFLAs this rather suggests that the NWS team will now be scurrying around every nook and cranny of the Theddlethorpe Search Area, desperately hunting to find what they deem to be a potential suitable 1-kilometre square surface site. And seemingly in a hurry too as Mr Hughes also advises in the NWS announcement that ‘we will publish an update early next year and our teams will be out in communities to explain our findings, hear feedback and consider next steps.’
In the run up to Christmas, householders in the area are best advised to regularly check their sheds and outhouses as instead of Santa they may be receiving visits from NWS officials busy measuring up!
To the NFLAs, the change in circumstances must surely represent a significant setback both to the prospects and timescale of the project, but this is also an opportunity to take decisive action to end it.
For if NWS really wants to hear feedback it has been clear from the start that most local elected officials and members of the community are against this project. Recent surveys have indicated that public sentiment is overwhelmingly of the opinion that GDF is a dog that has had its day and that this unwanted blight will have a massive economic impact on a seaside community dependent on tourism.
Time then to put it out of its misery.
One option is for the two Relevant Principal Local Authorities, Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council, to exercise their Right to Withdraw from the GDF process. Alternately there have been repeated calls for a Test of Public Support to be carried out to test public sentiment and this must now be the time to do this before wasting even more NWS energy and public money on a fool’s errand.
In a circular to his fellow Councillors on East Lindsey District Council, Theddlethorpe and Withern District Councillor Travis Hesketh, who was overwhelmingly elected on an anti-GDF ticket, appears to suggest the former decisive action:
‘After 3 ½ years, suddenly NWS change tack. They are wandering aimlessly like a zombie trying desperately to find a home for nuclear waste. There is no plan, no local support and clear evidence that a nuclear dump would be catastrophic for the coastal visitor economy. As councillors we need to work together to stop this project. A GDF project has been described as a timeshare, easy to get into but very hard to get out of. Before this goes any further let’s take control and chart our own destiny.’
Councillor Hesketh has also actively advocated for a Test of Public Support. East Lindsey District Council recently endorsed a motion brought by Sutton Councillor Robert Watson and backed by Councillor Hesketh calling for the test to be carried out within twelve months.
This is the action favoured by Victoria Atkins, the MP for Louth and Horncastle, who in a statement this week declared that “Constituents from the area will feel betrayed by this move from NWS”. Ms Atkins made clear her position: “I alongside many of my constituents oppose this nuclear waste dump in our area. I urge the Community Partnership to hold a referendum in the next 12 months so that residents can have their say and take control of our area’s future.”
For the people of Theddlethorpe, Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea, a resolution for immediate withdrawal by their local Councils or the promise of a 2025 referendum to allow them to vote on the prospect would represent an early, and very welcome, Christmas present.
Ends:// For more information, please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
Notes for Editors
The illustration which accompanies this story (credit Cllr Travis Hesketh) is a cartoon representation of the increasingly crowded Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal site.
Published by NWS 12 November 2024
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/gdf-programme-developments-in-theddlethorpe-lincolnshire
GDF programme developments in Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire
A GDF requires a suitable site and a willing community
NWS siting and communities Director Simon Hughes provides an update on the GDF programme.
We have been engaging with the community around Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire about the potential for hosting a Geological Disposal Facility. The search so far has been focussed on a potential surface site at the former gas terminal.
Over the past year, competing interests in the gas terminal site have matured and it is important we factor these into our approach. We are undertaking a range of studies in the search area and are considering other options for the GDF surface site.
No decisions on these options have been made at this stage, we will publish an update early next year and our teams will be out in communities to explain our findings, hear feedback and consider next steps.
As one of the largest environmental protection projects in the UK, a GDF has the potential to create thousands of jobs, improve flood protection, create new road and rail links, and trigger investment potentially worth many millions of pounds.
A GDF will only be built where there is a willing community and a suitable site. Our teams are engaging with local people to ensure they have the information they need to consider what hosting a GDF could mean for them.
A GDF is internationally recognised by governments, technical experts and scientists as the best solution for disposal of our most hazardous radioactive waste.
It involves isolating the waste deep underground in suitable geological formations and placing it in highly engineered vaults and tunnels, keeping the waste safe and secure as the radioactivity naturally reduces.
A GDF site will be made up of a surface location, the right geological environment deep underground and the ability to connect the two with accessways. Considering these elements in a Search Area helps focus our site evaluation studies and determines the potential suitability of an area to host a GDF.
The inshore area remains the focus of investigations for the underground part of a GDF.
Published on the website of Victoria Atkins MP 12 November 2024:
https://www.victoriaatkins.org.uk/news/response-nuclear-waste-services-expanding-site-search
Response to Nuclear Waste Services expanding site search
I have forced Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) to come clean on their plans to expand the site search for their nuclear waste dump from the former gas terminal to the wards of Withern & Theddlethorpe and Mablethorpe. Constituents from the area will feel betrayed by this move from NWS. Until this point, our collective understanding has been that NWS was looking only at the former gas terminal as the site for the infrastructure, not the agricultural land surrounding it [NFLA note: In this Ms Atkins is mistaken. Tthe gas terminal site in itself was never big enough to accommodate the surface site so surronding agricultural land would have had to be taken] or the tourist destination of Mablethorpe next to it. This widening of scope is deeply worrying, and I oppose it strongly.
Last week, I demanded an emergency meeting with NWS as I had heard rumours about their intentions. When they confirmed to me that they were looking beyond the gas terminal site, I said that I would not keep this secret for them and that I would tell my constituents within the next few days if they did not. Today, they have slipped out a statement on the gov.uk website confirming their intentions.
I have always made clear that I oppose the dump and am deeply concerned about the effect it is already having on the local community. In recent months, I have written to households in Theddlethorpe with a survey asking for their views on when they would like to hold a referendum, as a ‘test of public support’. Should the public vote against the proposals then the current policy is that the project will be stopped.
My survey results show overwhelming support for a referendum in the next 12 months. In the last few days, I have held meetings with the Leaders of the District and County Councils to discuss these results, NWS’ intentions and the councils’ roles on the Community Partnership which will decide when the referendum should be held.
I alongside many of my constituents oppose this nuclear waste dump in our area. I urge the Community Partnership to hold a referendum in the next 12 months so that residents can have their say and take control of our areas future.
