Consultation outcome

Environmental permitting of Hinkley Point C: summary of proposed decision

Updated 31 July 2023

Applies to England and Wales

Introduction

The Environment Agency is the independent environmental regulator for the nuclear industry in England. We make sure that nuclear power stations meet high standards of environmental protection.

Any company that wants to operate a nuclear power station must show that it can do the following safely and securely, while also protecting the environment:

• build, commission, operate and decommission the power station
• manage the wastes it produces

NNB Generation Company (Hinkley Point C) Limited applied to the Environment Agency to change its water discharge activity permit in December 2022. We consulted on the application from January to March 2023.

The application asked the Environment Agency to make these changes to the permit:

• remove all references to the acoustic fish deterrent (AFD)
• remove all references to the effects of abstracting cooling water – the Environment Agency does not regulate abstraction from the open sea
• add the discharge of seawater and biomass from the fish recovery and return system

The Environment Agency’s proposed decision is to grant the variation the operator has requested. We are proposing to add new conditions and limits in the permit to protect people and the environment.

We want your views on our proposed decision and draft permit to help us come to a final decision in summer 2023.

New nuclear power stations – the government’s view

Energy policy, including the use of nuclear power, is a matter for government. Government published an Energy white paper: Powering our Net Zero Future in 2020 that set out the need for nuclear power, among other measures, to help the UK achieve net zero by 2050.

In 2022, the government also published the British Energy Security Strategy. This states an aim that by 2050, up to a quarter of the power used in Great Britain will be from nuclear.

We have published our own plan, EA2025 creating a better place to guide our activities.

Our 5-year action plan (EA2025) sets out 3 goals:

• a nation resilient to climate change
• healthy air, land and water
• green growth and a sustainable future

We will continue to work with the government, regulatory partners, industry and others to enable nuclear energy production. And whilst doing this, we will make sure that people and the environment are properly protected. Nuclear is a low carbon energy source that could contribute significantly towards net zero goals and implementing the British Energy Security Strategy.

Our processes align with the goals in EA2025 because they help make sure that nuclear power stations are designed and operated in ways which minimise waste, consider sustainability and protect the environment.

Regulating nuclear power stations

The Environment Agency regulates specific environmental matters at nuclear sites in England by issuing environmental permits. These permits cover:

• site investigation and preparation
• construction works and relevant associated developments (such as workers’ accommodation)
• operation and decommissioning the power station

In deciding whether to grant the permits, we will take into account matters relevant to the specific site as well as the Generic Design Assessment for the design proposed for the site.

We also work closely with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), which regulates the safety and security aspects of nuclear sites.

Read about our role as a regulator on nuclear sites.

About Hinkley

The Hinkley Point nuclear power stations are on the north Somerset coast. Hinkley Point A was Hinkley Point’s first nuclear power station. It operated from 1965 to 2000 and is being decommissioned.

Hinkley Point B began operation in 1976. It stopped generating electricity on 1 August 2022.

EDF’s company NNB Generation Company (Hinkley Point C) Ltd is building a new, twin reactor nuclear power station at the site. It is expected to begin generating electricity in 2026.

Read about our regulation of Hinkley Point C power station.

The UK EPR™ design

There are various types of nuclear reactors around the world. One of the most common types is the pressurised water reactor (PWR), including the UK EPR™.

In the reactor core, some of the uranium atoms that make up the fuel, split in a process called nuclear fission. These fissions produce heat in a continuous process called a chain reaction. The heat created by the nuclear fission is used to heat water inside the reactor, which is circulated by pumps in the primary circuit to a steam generator. In the steam generator, the very hot primary circuit water is used to heat water in the separate secondary circuit. This produces steam which is fed to a turbine. This makes the turbine spin and drives a generator that produces electricity.

This image shows a simplified schematic of the EPR™ reactor

Image from NNB Generation Company (Hinkley Point C) Limited

The cooling water system

In UK nuclear power stations, sea water is usually used in the third water circuit to cool the condenser of the turbine, converting the steam of the secondary circuit back to water.

For Hinkley Point C, this will require a continuous supply of water taken from the Bristol Channel by 2 intake tunnels 3.3km offshore, one for each reactor unit. Each intake tunnel includes 2 low velocity side entry (LVSE) intake heads.

After being used within the plant, the seawater would then be discharged back to the Bristol Channel at a higher temperature through a single outfall cooling water tunnel (serving both reactor units), approximately 1.8km long.

A small proportion of the seawater will be discharged back to the Bristol Channel using a fish recovery and return system through a separate outfall tunnel approximately 0.5km long.

The company has produced this diagram showing its proposal for a fish protection system.

Image from NNB Generation Company (Hinkley Point C) Limited

The cooling system is considered by these 3 regulators with different regulatory powers, the:

• Environment Agency in relation to the water discharge activity permit
• Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) in relation to the Development Consent Order
• Marine Management Organisation in relation to the marine licence

The Environment Agency does not regulate the intake of cooling water from the sea at Hinkley Point C. This is because under the Water Resources Act you only need an abstraction licence to take water from lakes, rivers, estuaries or streams, or from groundwater. This intake is considered to be open sea.

Our consultation on the permit application

We publicly consulted on NNB Generation Company (Hinkley Point C) Limited’s application to vary the water discharge activity permit from 24 January to 2 March 2023.

You can view the closed consultation and responses (if the respondent gave permission) on our consultation website. We received 50 consultation responses from members of the public, local councils, environmental groups, public bodies and departments, and other interested parties.

We have been considering the relevant responses to this consultation and have been carrying out our assessments since then.

We used the relevant responses to help inform our proposed decisions on whether to grant the permit variation and what conditions or limits should change. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to respond to the consultation and attend our consultation event.

We address any relevant issues raised in our proposed decision document, where we also set out our draft conclusions on the company’s application.

The existing water discharge activity permit

The original water discharge activity permit application (in 2011) included an AFD in the design of the cooling water system. This uses sound to encourage fish to move away from the water intake, thereby aiming to reduce the number of fish which could be drawn into the pipe. The AFD was proposed as 1 of 3 fish protection mechanisms with a low velocity side intake and fish recovery and return system.

The existing water discharge activity permit, granted in 2013, allows the cooling water system to operate as described in the application. We included conditions in that permit that required the operator to submit reports to the Environment Agency describing how their proposed AFD will operate and minimise any effects on fish.

The operator is now asking us to remove these conditions from the permit as they no longer propose to use an AFD in the station design.

There is a similar requirement in the Development Consent Order and in the marine licence, which were issued at the same time as the permit, for the AFD. After consulting with Natural England and the Marine Management Organisation, we have concluded that the most appropriate way to regulate the cooling water intake is through the Development Consent Order.

When considering this permit variation application, we assessed the effects of removing the AFD on the:

• potential for water pollution
• habitat and species directly affected by the discharge from the fish recovery and return outfall

Our proposed decision

Our proposed decision is that we should grant the permit variation for the water discharge activity. The limits and conditions attached to the permit will make sure that people and the environment are protected from water discharge under normal operation.

To reach our proposed decision, we considered the following:

• the relevant legislation
• government policy and guidance
• our own guidance
• the relevant responses to our consultation on the permit application

We also completed these assessments:

• habitats regulations assessment (HRA)
• site of special scientific interest (SSSI) assessment
• Water Framework Directive (WFD) compliance assessment

We have published these assessments in full if you want to find out more about them.

Assessing impacts on designated wildlife sites

Before making decisions about permit applications we must carry out assessments to check whether the activities carried out under an environmental permit could have an effect on designated wildlife sites. This includes carrying out a HRA on European sites, and an assessment of operations that are likely to damage SSSIs.

Habitats regulations assessment

A HRA is an assessment that we must carry out when we determine a permit for an activity that could have a significant effect on a European site. The activity does not need to take place within a European site to have an effect, but there must be a link, or pathway to a site, and the features within that site must be sensitive to the risks.

European sites include:

• Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) – which are designated for important high quality habitat sites and rare species
• Special Protection Areas (SPAs) – for the protection of rare and vulnerable birds
• Ramsar sites

Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention, but it is government policy that they are given the same protection as SACs and SPAs.

The habitats and species protected by these European sites are collectively known as ‘designated features’.

The assessment must be carried out alone and in combination with other permissions, plans and projects on the designated features of the sites.

Site of special scientific interest assessment

A SSSI assessment is a test that we must carry out when we determine a permit to assess if an activity is likely to damage their features.

SSSIs are the finest sites for wildlife and natural features in England, supporting many rare and endangered species, habitats and natural features.

What we looked at in our ecological assessments

We considered the likely effect of dead and damaged fish and invertebrates being discharged from the fish recovery and return system outlets on both ecology and water quality. This includes:

• any potential smothering effects from this biomass on species and habitats
• changes to water quality from the release of chemical and nutrients from the decay of this biomass
• the subsequent effect this change in water quality may have on species and habitats
• any habitat loss from these potential effects

We only considered this discharge as it is the only one that would be affected by this permit variation for a water discharge activity. For our HRA, we assessed all these potential risks on their own and combined with the risks from other ongoing activities and planned projects in the area.

The following European sites were identified as having the potential to be adversely affected by the risks set out above:

• Severn Estuary SAC
• Severn Estuary SPA
• Severn Estuary Ramsar
• River Usk SAC
• River Wye SAC
• Somerset Levels and Moors SPA
• Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar
• Bristol Channel Approaches SAC

The potential risk would be from toxic contamination, nutrient enrichment, and smothering from the release of dead and damaged fish and invertebrates, with the potential to also cause habitat loss.

Our HRA demonstrates that the release of dead and damaged fish and invertebrates from the fish recovery and return system will not result in an adverse effect on the integrity of the European sites.

SSSIs

The following 8 SSSIs were identified as being potentially at risk from the fish recovery and return system discharge from Hinkley Point C:

• Bridgwater Bay SSSI
• Blue Anchor to Lilstock Coast SSSI
• Steep Holm SSSI
• Brean Down SSSI
• Severn Estuary SSSI
• Flat Holm SSSI
• River Usk SSSI
• River Wye SSSI

The potential risk would be from toxic contamination, nutrient enrichment, and smothering from the release of dead and damaged fish and invertebrates, with the potential to cause habitat loss.

Our SSSI assessment demonstrates that the release of dead and damaged fish and invertebrates from the fish recovery and return system will not result in the condition of the sites deteriorating, nor will it prevent them from improving or recovering where necessary.

Complying with the Water Framework Directive (WFD)

When we assessed the risk of pollution from dead and damaged fish and invertebrates, we found that the water quality changes would not compromise water body environmental objectives. We looked at how the discharges might affect the environment together with the available data on other activities and found no case for significant effects.

We therefore propose that there is minimal risk of these water bodies being unable to meet their objectives under the WFD because of these discharges.

The draft permit with proposed conditions and limits

This section provides information about what the draft permit variation allows, and any changes to limits and conditions.

The existing permit regulates the operational water discharge activities from Hinkley Point C – they are discharges of these non-radioactive liquid effluents:

• returned cooling water from the turbine condensers
• trade process effluents from the various plant systems (including those that maintain water purity and chemistry to keep the best operating conditions and maximise efficiency)
• treated sewage effluent (from staff welfare facilities)

The draft varied permit will also now regulate the returned seawater through a fish recovery and return system.

As a result of our assessment on the impact of the fish recovery and return system discharge, we propose including limits on volume, rate and the total biomass discharged from the fish recovery and return system outlet.

We propose removing all conditions (or parts of conditions) relating to the AFD.

We have concluded that there would be no adverse effect on the integrity of the relevant European sites (in relation to pollution from regulated discharges to waters) if there is no AFD in place. This includes those sites functionally linked to the Severn Estuary.

We have also concluded that the proposed permit variation will not cause the current status of the water bodies to deteriorate, nor prevent them from achieving their objectives.

The draft varied permit includes the requirement to use an additional operating technique and an improvement condition. It also includes 2 pre-operational conditions which need Environment Agency approval before the proposed power station can be commissioned or begin to operate. These are included to make sure that NNB Generation Company (Hinkley Point C) Limited builds and operates the proposed power station according to the commitments made in its permit application.

Our consultation

The 4 week consultation begins on 25 April 2023 and will close on 25 May 2023.

Your views count

We aim to build and maintain confidence in our decision-making processes through our public engagement and consultation. It is our responsibility to make decisions about the environmental permit applications for Hinkley Point C, but we consider that our decisions are better informed through consultation.

We can all help to protect and improve the environment by being actively involved. Our public participation statement shows how our process is open, transparent and consultative. We would like people to understand our role, what we are doing and why it’s important.

When we consult, we explain that the consultations are not about the need for nuclear power, UK energy policy or policy relating to the siting of nuclear power stations.

During our consultations we share information with people, explain our proposed decisions and we emphasise that we will not make any final decisions until we have considered all relevant responses to the consultation.

Our approach to consultation is in line with the government’s published consultation principles and our public participation statement.

Our consultations are open to everyone and, in particular, we invite the following groups to take part:

• members of the public and communities (including local interest and action groups), particularly those in west Somerset near to the Hinkley site
• elected representatives, including MPs
• local councils near the site
• the nuclear industry
• academics, scientists and consultants with an interest in nuclear power, energy or the environment
• non-governmental organisations (NGOs), campaign groups and environmental groups
• statutory consultees
• other government agencies
• other regulators
• any other organisation or public bodies

Documents for public consultation

You can find details of our consultation questions and documents on GOV.UK and the Environment Agency’s online consultation webpage.

We have published the following documents for you to consider:

• draft permit for a water discharge activity
• draft decision document for variation of the water discharge activity permit
• Habitats Regulations assessment report
• SSSI assessment report
• WFD compliance assessment report

How to respond to the consultation

We want your comments on the proposed decision we have made for this permit for Hinkley Point C.

If you have any relevant information you feel we have missed, you can provide your comments.

Our consultation does not relate to the UK EPR™ design. It is not about the need for nuclear power, UK energy policy, the siting of nuclear power stations, nor the safety and security of the design. Here are the aspects and issues we can and cannot take account of.

We can take account of:

• relevant environmental regulatory requirements and technical standards
• information on local population and sensitive sites
• comments on whether the right process is being used for the activity, for example, whether the technology is the right one
• the potential for the land around the site to have an effect on air quality and what pollution control may be needed
• information that we have not been made aware of in the application, or corrections to incorrect information in the application

We cannot take account of:

• issues beyond those in the relevant environmental regulations
• anything outside the remit of the environmental permitting regulations, for example, the proposed location of the site, which is done by the local authority through land use planning
• whether a site should have a formal designation under the conservation of habitats and species regulations or other conservation legislation
• whether the activity should be allowed or not as a matter of principle – for example, we will not consider whether nuclear power generation is an appropriate process or whether alternative methods of generating electricity should be used instead
• land use issues or sustainability challenges, even if it is argued that changing the location of the activity would improve its environmental performance
• the impact of noise and odour from traffic travelling to and from the site
• the legally defined process we follow to determine a permit
• comments about the government’s energy policy

There are several ways you can let us know your views

Respond online

Visit our e-consultation website Citizen Space.

We have designed the online consultation to make it easy to submit responses to the questions. We would prefer you to comment online as this will help us to gather and summarise responses quickly and accurately.

All documents are also published on GOV.UK.

Respond by email or letter

You can also submit a response by email or letter.

Email: [email protected]

Post to:

Hinkley C Consultation
Environment Agency
Permit Support Centre
Quadrant 2
99 Parkway Avenue
Park way Business Park
Sheffield
S9 4WF

Public engagement

You can join our online meeting on 10 May from 4 to 5pm. Email [email protected] to ask to join the meeting.

We have deliberately made this process open, clear and consultative, subject to commercial and security sensitive constraints, because this helps to inform our decision and build confidence in us and the process.

Next steps

Publishing our final decision

The Environment Agency will carefully consider all the relevant information we receive during consultation, together with existing information. We will continue to determine this permit and have not yet reached a final decision.

The Environment Agency will publish a summary of relevant responses made during this consultation when we release our final permit and decision document.

We will publish our final decision document in summer 2023.

Future engagement

We will continue our programme of communications and stakeholder engagement for Hinkley Point C and other nuclear developments and projects. This includes holding events with communities and stakeholders.

Find out more about our work at Hinkley Point C.

Contact us

You can feed back on this document or our work in regulating Hinkley Point C. Email your questions and comments to [email protected].