Countdown to Important Court Appearance
Posted: 8th December 2025
We are nearly there! Not long to go until TASC’s permission hearing at the High Court, London, on Tuesday, 9th December 2025.
Our lawyers have confirmed that the court hearing will be the morning session starting at 10.30 am. If you would like to support us, you will be very welcome to attend. It has been advised to get there an hour early as security can be lengthy. We will also be holding a photo call at 9.45, please join us, the more the merrier.
If you need more information, please email us at [email protected]
Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, City of Westminster, WC2A 2LL
THE CASE
As you will be aware, coastal erosion and flood risk are at the heart of our case. TASC has continued our attempt to raise awareness with the various relevant authorities to the fact that the project, as approved in the Sizewell C (SZC) development consent order (DCO), is not resilient to a credible maximum sea level rise scenario. EDF, although aware of the need in 2015, chose not to include the additional sea defences required to protect the site in that scenario in their planning application. This is contrary to the requirements of the UK’s National Policy Statements and is in breach of the Habitat Regulations (HRA), which require assessment of the impacts of a project’s worst-case scenario on European wildlife sites.
The Secretary of State should not be allowed to put off the decision to assess the additional sea defences and consideration of alternatives to them – to do so could potentially make things worse for future generations and the environment.
TASC’s ongoing work has included communicating with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the Environment Agency (EA), East Suffolk Council (ESC) and the local MP.
On 6th October we met with officers from the Energy Projects team at ESC to discuss various issues including those relating to our concerns regarding coastal erosion and flood risk at the SZC site – we followed this up on 31st October with an email to ESC’s Coastal Management setting out our concerns in more detail, asking several questions including, “Please advise whether ESC share our concerns about the uncertainty of how long spent fuel will remain on the Sizewell C site and whether ESC consider the flood protection measures set out in the approved DCO are still capable of protecting the site from erosion and flooding in a credible maximum sea level rise scenario, till all spent fuel is removed – now said to be, by Sizewell C Ltd, 2160?”
Come on Labour, time for a visit!
On 19th November, along with other NGOs, we had a virtual meeting with the new DESNZ Nuclear Minister, Lord Vallance. At this meeting, TASC made a general statement and verbally asked for a Labour minister to travel to East Suffolk to meet the communities impacted by Sizewell C (none have to date) and to witness the coastal erosion along the surrounding coastline. Before the meeting, questions were raised with DESNZ, including from TASC. Please find our full list of questions HERE
Lord Vallance promised his team were looking at his diary to arrange a visit, we will hold him to it and make sure he agrees to meet the local NGOs.
Following our questions to Lord Vallance, on 26th November we wrote to Suffolk Coastal MP, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, asking her to support our request to him, “TASC have grave concerns about the environmental and financial burden that this government is placing on future and far future generations in order to keep Sizewell C and its spent fuel safe till the late 2100s and this needs to be recognised. For their sake, TASC would be grateful if you will support our request for Lord Vallance to visit East Suffolk to meet with communities affected by the Sizewell C project and to witness first hand the erosion at Thorpeness and Sizewell. Particularly as no Labour Minister has come to East Suffolk to meet the affected communities and listen to their concerns, something that even the previous Conservative government managed to arrange.”
Meeting with the Office of Nuclear Regulation. ONR
Our work with the ONR included a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request for more up to date information regarding site suitability and the results of recent coastal studies. We also attended a Nuclear NGO Forum meeting at the ONR’s headquarters in Liverpool on 26th November and met the new Chief Nuclear Inspector, Mike Finnerty. During our lengthy conversation with him, the NGOs were told that there would be no reduction in nuclear safety following the publication of the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce’s report that has recommended radical reforms to the nuclear regulatory regime – only time will tell whether this confirmation holds true but what is certain is that the report’s recommendations will bring about far less protection for our precious wild spaces and the wildlife that inhabit these areas. Also, there are troubling recommendations to reduce the ability for communities and NGOs to take legal action against nuclear projects and to increase the legal costs for NGOs. There are also proposals to increase the existing limits that protect exposure to ionising radiation. With Keir Starmer announcing his support for all the Report’s recommendations, it will be the nuclear industry and big business that will benefit from these changes to the detriment of ‘working people’, the general public and the environment. The Taskforce’s 47 recommendations can be found on pages 144 to 148 of the report. What is certain is that there are difficult times ahead!
Local News
All those who live in or visit East Suffolk will testify, Sizewell C’s new road infrastructure is causing chaos and collisions. A BBC report on 26th November provided a warning to avoid Sizewell C‘s roadworks on the A12 junction with A1094 at Friday Street, following some positive work from local Independent Councillor Julia Ewart. There have been six accidents along a short stretch of the A12 this week. It’s very worrying.
In other places, road closures, traffic lights and construction traffic are causing chaos on many local roads, leading to great frustration for those going about their normal daily lives.
Paul Brown, Guardian Journalist
Guardian readers may have seen the sad news that the journalist Paul Brown is seriously ill and has just submitted his last article for the Guardian. Paul was a great friend of the hugely missed Pete Wilkinson; the trips to Antarctica he refers to were alongside Pete, as well as reporting on other shared campaigns.
Paul looks back at his career reporting on the climate crisis, failed summit and nuclear power – and how to do it well.
“Over the years, I have regularly been fed wildly optimistic figures of construction costs and times and of the resultant electricity supply. At worst we have been consistently lied to. Unlike wind and solar, nuclear costs have consistently gone up for decades.
And now it is happening all over again at Sizewell C in Suffolk and in north Wales; the British public is being forced to watch as the government pours billions of pounds of our money down the drain. Journalists should be exposing this terrible waste. In the name of the climate I ask them to look closely at the real facts, not believe the hype, and try to stop this waste of resources before it gets worse.”
The Guardian: ‘I have watched politicians failing yet and yet again’: lessons from a life as an environment writer
Guardian Letters Page
TASC still need help to reach our crowdfunding target in order to continue with this important legal action. We are extremely grateful to all who are able to contribute to and/or share our Crowd Justice page.