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Energy: Draft National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation (EN-6)

With the indulgence of the Committee, perhaps I may address that point. We have made considerable progress on how we handle new waste. The stuff that is up at Sellafield and some of the other legacy waste is a completely different kettle of fish. No matter what we do about a new-build nuclear programme, that problem has still to be addressed and solved. Careful planning of the new nuclear programme may include the disposal of waste material before sites are even constructed and some faster progress on the deep depository. However, I believe that, if we wait for solutions to all those issues to be put into practice and implemented, it would probably be a very long time before we start the new nuclear programme. Therefore, although it is not ideal, the alternatives—be they barrages across every estuary in the nation, over-reliance on carbon capture and storage, which is as yet unproven, or our continuing to pump carbon into the atmosphere—are equally unpalatable. So the position I have taken is that we have to pitch somewhere if we are going to make progress. I have come to the conclusion that carefully managed new nuclear build and carefully planned waste disposal is probably one of the least hazardous ways forward. My second point is about sites. I very much welcome that the NPS is spatially explicit. But there needs to be a proviso about all sites because all the nominated sites are close to internationally protected nature conservative areas. Many face significant challenge in respect of the way in which the coastline is changing and eroding. There needs to be a full and detailed environmental impact assessment and an appropriate assessment under the habitats regulations not just at the NPS stage, but at the individual project stage. The environmental assessments in the nuclear NPS are much more robust than in some of the other policy statements. But I would urge the Government to be clear that we cannot regard the habitats regulation assessment in the NPS as sufficient and I would urge the Minister to clarify that the findings of that process; namely, that there would be adverse impacts on wildlife sites, that there were in some cases no feasible alternative solutions and that therefore imperative reasons of overriding public interest, would have to be invoked. I would also urge the Minister to clarify that those findings apply so far only to the NPS and to assure the House that both the NPS in its final form and the habitats regulations assessment when finally published will have an explicit statement that the findings simply apply to the national policy statement and will have to be re-examined on individual applications site by site. I am sure that the Committee is expecting me to raise my third issue, which is the uniting principle between the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, and myself—Dungeness. I very much welcome Dungeness being dropped from the list on the basis that it is either extremely difficult or impossible to mitigate or compensate for the environmental impacts on that highly distinctive, highly special, rare and internationally important shingle habitat. I should like the indulgence of the House for a few minutes and would like to transport noble Lords there. Indeed, I urge you all to go to Dungeness, probably not quite at this time of the year. It is a bit chilly right now, but in a month’s time, one will find a hugely distinctive, slightly weird, beautiful shingle landscape. It is internationally important for its nature conservation interests. Those noble Lords who are more interested in the arts than the environment are no doubt aware that Derek Jarman published a wonderful book about the very special garden he created in the shingle environment. It is absolutely beautiful and I urge noble Lords to see the garden and to read the book. An example of its weirdness is: were you to put your finger in a pool in the shingle banks at Dungeness on the site of special scientific interest and linger for a while, you would probably find that you are in close fleshy personal communication with the medicinal leech. It is one of the few sites where medicinal leeches still thrive in this country. It is a wonderful sight for some rare shingle plant and animal species which occur nowhere else in this country. It is very distinctive. I encourage all noble Lords to go to Dungeness to see how special it is. Those of you who are not taken by the wildlife interests or by the visual and spiritual interests might be more convinced by the fact that this site is also on a very fast-eroding coast, which is sustained now only by the fact that lorries go to one side of the nuclear power station almost daily to pick up huge quantities of gravel and shingle in order to ferry it round to the other side of the nuclear power station so that the sea can carry it round to the first side. There is a constant need to keep replenishing the shingle, otherwise the nuclear power station will come under severe threat from a very strong coastal current on that part of the coast. It is simply not sustainable for the future. In my view, that is probably one of the strongest arguments for not having a further power station on the Dungeness site.