Write a letter to your MP

We strongly recommend that you write to you MP and to your local councillor to make sure that you voice is heard. We appreciate that it can be hard to find the time to write, let alone to get to grips with the issues.

Things to say in your letter

We have set out below the key areas that concern us in the hope that this might help you to formulate your own views and write your own letter or email.

If you agree with what is below, then we are happy for you to use our words, but your letter will have more impact if you write it in your own words.

Nuclear waste storage

According to the government's own statistics (DECC Waste Management website), if new nuclear comes to Oldbury, it will bring with it a legacy of high level toxic nuclear waste that will be stored on site for a minimum of 160 years. Further, there is currently no concrete solution for this waste beyond that time scale.

The site is close to some significant populations including the town of Thornbury (less than 5 miles and a population of circa 12,500), the city of Bristol (less than 10 miles with a population of circa 450,000) and the towns of Chepstow and Lydney directly accross the river.

Are the risks posed to these communities proportional to the benefits?

Flood risk

The site is on the River Severn flood plain and within a level 3 risk flood zone (the highest level risk!); the risk of flooding is very real and the existing power station has been cut off by floods in the past.

Running a nuclear facility and storing high level nuclear waste in a high risk flood zone is highly questionable. Whilst defences can be built, how big will they need to be to guarantee protection against a once in 10,000 year event and what are the knock on effects of the works on the surrounding area, including whether it will make it more flood prone?

Geological suitability

The banks of the Severn river are built on mercia mudstone, which would provide a weak foundation for the massive buildings, including the cooling towers, that will be required. It is known that core samples were taken on the site to a depth of 200 meters, but no results have been forthcoming from Horizon.

Building a nuclear powerstation and storing high level nuclear waste on land without foundation of bedrock must be high risk. This is a key concerm and must be answered before any important decisions regarding the site are taken.

Visual impact

Oldbury is the only site listed in the NPS that is not a coastal site. Uniquely, this means that it will need to have cooling tower, either 200m high natural draft towers, or 70m high hybrid cooling tower.

The 70 meter towers, of which there will probably be 4, will have an enormous visual impact on the Severn Vale and the Wye Valley, 2 areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Oldbury is the only site listed which directly effects an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The 200 meter towers, which are still a real possibility and of which there will also 4, will be nearly as tall as Canary Wharf (which is 239 meters).

Selection by political expediency, not sound reasoning

The primary reason that Oldbury is a proposed site is that there is a nuclear power station there already.

This was confirmed by Tim Prowdler of Horizon at a meeting with residents in Rockhampton, when he agreed that the site would not be being considered if there was not a nuclear power station in the area already.

The new proposal is for a site that is 8 times a big as the existing site. This means that it cannot be cooled by the River Severn. The primary reason that Oldbury was picked as nuclear site in the first instance was that it could be cooled by the river.

We believe that, whilst Oldbury may be a good site for a much smaller nuclear power station, it is not appropriate for one of the scale being proposed.

Cumulative Effects

There are real concerns about the cumulative effects on the environment of having a new nuclear power station at Oldbury as well as at Hinkley.

The impact of one site is significant; the effects of 2 are unknown and should be understood before any decision is made.