DUNGARVAN
OBSERVER Vol. 102
Fo ot ba l l e rs a d va n c e in M c G ra t h Cu p
Friday, 9th January, 2015
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Council assured of nuclear plant safety Hinkley Point C will be designed to withstand air strikes, loss of power and flooding By Paul Mooney A NEW nuclear power plant being built in England and located just 320 km from the Waterford coastline will be designed to “withstand flooding, air strikes and total loss of power on the site”, the British Ambassador to Ireland told Waterford Council recently. The British Ambassador, Dominick Chilcott, was responding to concerns aired by Councillors at the October meetings of Waterford City and County Council and Dungarvan-Lismore District Council, over plans to build a nuclear power facility at Hinkley Point, Somerset, South West England. At both those meetings, Councillors reacted with anger and disbelief that the EU granted planning permission to England to build the €20bn nuclear power plant, called ‘Hinkley Point C’, which will be located just 320 km (or 200 miles) away from the Waterford coastline. A vote by the EU’s 28
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The planned nuclear power plant ‘Hinkley Point C’ in Somerset, England. commissioners narrowly approved the nuclear power plant. All Waterford Councillors agreed unanimously that a strongly worded letter should be sent to the British Ambassador to outline their disgust at the planned construction of a nuclear power plant so close to Ireland. British Ambassador, Mr. Chilcott responded recently in a letter to the Council and said the concerns of the Councillors have been passed onto Britain’s Department for Energy and Climate
Change. Mr. Chilcott said he wanted to reassure the Council that nuclear safety is of “paramount importance” to the British government. He said Britain’s independent nuclear safety regulator ‘The Office for Nuclear Regulation’ carries out inspections to ensure operators are fulfilling their duties and that robust safety measures are in place across the industry. “Hinkley Point C has been designed to withstand flooding, air strikes and total loss of power on the site,” Mr. Chilcott pointed out. “It has four separate back-up cooling systems.” Mr. Chilcott said the operator of Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant will be the company ‘EDF Energy’ which is a wholly owned subsidiary of ‘EDF Group’, which operates nuclear reactors in France and is part of a joint venture to build two reactors in China. EDF Energy operates 15 nuclear reactors
at sites around Britain. As well as Hinkley Point C in Somerset, England, EDF Energy are planning another new nuclear power plant at Sizewell, Suffolk, England, subject to the right investment framework. Mr. Chilcott said the Chief Nuclear Inspector in Britain has recently inspected all of EDF Energy’s existing nuclear plants, “which involved stress-testing them for events beyond a one in 10,000 year probability”. “All of the plants passed,” Mr. Chilcott pointed out. He said Hinkley Point C is part of Britain’s “wider approach to reforming its electricity market”. “As you will appreciate, our goals are to increase the use of carbon-free renewable energy as well as to improve energy efficiency and the security of supply,” said Mr. Chilcott. “Safe nuclear energy, which is carbonfree, has an important role to play in achieving those goals,” he added.
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Irish house prices rise by 16.3% page 17 01
Pictured at Kilmurrin Cove, County Waterford, taking part in the Michael Power Memorial Swim 2014, the proceeds of which this year go to CRY (Cardiac Risk in The Young), were sisters Caroline [John Power] and Laura Ahearne.
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