WE ARE all expected to pay the proverbial ‘arm and a leg’ for the proposed new nuclear facility at Hinkley, (15 miles from Barry Island).

Unfortunately for some residents in Fukushima in 2011, they paid the ultimate ‘higher price’, as I heard first hand from a resident at a recent conference held in Cardiff Bay by the Nuclear Free Local Authorities, (Cardiff being a member but sadly not my own authority of the Vale of Glamorgan Council).

A similar meeting was also held on Ynys Mon/Anglesey the following evening.

Readers may not be aware that the Austrian Government has formally objected to the Hinkley development due to the Westminster Government’s subsidies being unfair when compared to ‘cleaner’ methods of energy generation.

We now know that the results of the first renewable energy auction held in the UK under its new “contract for difference” pricing mechanism, ‘greener’ bids have pulled the rug from underneath the nuclear advocate argument that it is the cheapest form of clean energy.

It has also surprised the UK government, and some of the renewable developers themselves.

Both wind energy and solar came in at around £80/MWh, which is well below the £120/MWh budget for solar, and the £95/MWh by the UK government, and the £92.50/MWh negotiated for the proposed £42 billion Hinkley C nuclear reactor.

The strike prices for these wind and solar technologies will be progressively scaled down in coming years.

I have arranged a presentation, to the Scrutiny Committee of Housing and Public Protection, of Emergency Planning procedures in place in the event of an incident at Hinkley, (I am not aware of Cardiff’s policy at the time of writing). The presentation is at 4.30pm on March 11 and is open to all members. There is also limited space available in the public gallery.

Cllr Christopher Williams

Chairman

Scrutiny Committee for Housing and Public Protection