UK: law allows nuclear waste dumps be forced on local commun

UK: law allows nuclear waste dumps be forced on local commun

Postby Oscar » Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:27 pm

Law changed so nuclear waste dumps can be forced on local communities

[ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... ommunities ]

Legislation rushed through in the final hours of parliament allows local planning laws to be bypassed, seriously alarming anti-nuclear campaigners

by Juliette Jowit, The Guardian, April 5 2015 http://tinyurl.com/nvq6djo

Nuclear waste dumps can be imposed on local communities without their support under a new law rushed through in the final hours of parliament.

Under the latest rules, the long search for a place to store Britain’s stockpile of 50 years’ worth of the most radioactive waste from power stations, weapons and medical use can be ended by bypassing local planning.

Since last week, the sites are now officially considered “nationally significant infrastructure projects” and so will be chosen by the secretary of state for energy. He or she would get advice from the planning inspectorate, but would not be bound by the recommendation. Local councils and communities can object to details of the development but cannot stop it altogether.

The move went barely noticed as it was passed late on the day before parliament was prorogued for the general election, but has alarmed local objectors and anti-nuclear campaigners.

Friends of the Earth’s planning advisor, Naomi Luhde-Thompson, said: “Communities will be rightly concerned about any attempts to foist a radioactive waste dump on them. We urgently need a long-term management plan for the radioactive waste we’ve already created, but decisions mustn’t be taken away from local people who have to live with the impacts.”

Objectors worry that ministers are desperate to find a solution to the current radioactive waste problem to win public support to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.

Zac Goldsmith, one of the few government MPs who broke ranks to vote against the move, criticised the lack of public debate about such a “big” change. “Effectively it strips local authorities of the ability to stop waste being dumped in their communities,” he said.

“If there had been a debate, there could have been a different outcome: most of the MPs who voted probably didn’t know what they were voting for.”

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[ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... ommunities ]
Oscar
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