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1 1 1 1 1 1 11 166 6 (2008) 20 ELM : SITING OF NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS AND ‘PARTICIPATING LAW’ : EDITORIAL
was unconvincing, dismissing this one-man awkward squad for ‘express[ing] anxieties
which it is not usual for us to hear’. On another occasion, Hughes questioned
10
specifically whether Calder Hall and neighbouring Windscale had appropriate fire
precautions in place, which the minister brushed off with a tardy ‘of course’. It was
11
thus a harsh epiphany for the government and the industry to be confronted with the
fire at Windscale on October 10 1957. Peter Hennessey in his autobiography explains
just how serious this incident was:
I shall never forget Lord Plowden, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Authority, reliving
for me the decision which had to be taken the following day about extinguishing
the fire, raging at over 400 degrees centigrade. Dousing the pile with water risked
triggering a vast explosion scattering highly toxic and immensely persistent
contamination that would have rendered the Lake District a hazardous wasteland
well into this century. But there was no other option. The hoses worked. The
following day pile no. 1 was cold ‘and an environmental catastrophe had been
averted’. 12
10 Sir David Eccles (Minister for Supply),
HC Debs, 30 April 1957, col 158. 13
Hughes was a ‘maverick’ Labour MP Whilst safety issues remain at the forefront of the debate, one should not lose sight
and son in law of Labour Party of the intrinsic damage caused by this incident. That is to be measured not in loss of
founder, Keir Hardie. His pacificism lives, but in the shattering of confidence in the prevailing decision making model. 14
led to his imprisonment during the
First World War, to which he was a It is important to appreciate that criticism of this model went beyond safety and
conscientious objector. environmental concerns, touching also on the economic issues which are at the heart
11 HC Debs, 13 March 1957, col 1132. of the present debate. There are of course today what is probably a substantial minority
Reginald Maudling, Government
spokesman, stated that additional of energy economists who are skeptical of the viability of nuclear power, and they are
precautions were unnecessary: ‘very part of a long tradition dating back as early as 1946, when Prime Minister Clement
great care is taken to protect against Attlee delivered this warning to parliament:
release of radioactive substances’
(col 1133).
12 Peter Hennessey Having it so Good the full economic significance of atomic energy is not yet known. I think there has
(Penguin 2007) p 582. been in some quarters a good deal of over-optimism. 15
13 The Public Accounts Committee, in a
report published in July, adds to
these concerns regarding Indeed, the nuclear energy programme took shape on the basis more of hope than
operational safety in pointing out a belief in its efficiency in generating electricity for homes and businesses. That is
lack of understanding among experts illustrated in the cautious expression of ‘hope’ that ‘nuclear reactors would be paying
of the nature and disposition of the their way … within 10 years’ on the part of the minister for supply. Economic doubts
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wastes arising from the legacy of the
past 50 years: see 38th Report, dominated the first serious parliamentary debate on nuclear power of 30 April 1957.
Session 2007–2008, Nuclear What is striking is the extent to which the government was forced to concede that
Decommissioning Agency – Taking nuclear power at this time lacked the thermal efficiency of the more modern coal-fired
Decommissioning Forward (HC plant. Thus it was that when Chris Hinton retired from the Atomic Energy Authority
370).
14 Windscale prompted unprecdented and the nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board of which he was founding
scenes at the opening of parliament chief executive he expressed regret at the ease with which politicians had allowed
a month later, at which Prime Minister resources to be diverted from coal to nuclear power when this was not necessarily
Macmillan was required to preface justified on the economic merits. These decision making failings continue to be felt,
the Queen’s Speech with a statement most notably in the context of the rising estimates of the costs of decommissioning. 17
reassuring the nation that its nuclear
programme was safe, and that
government scientists could be ‘Participation law’ and the siting of a new fleet of nuclear power
trusted to act in the public interest
at all times, HC Debs, 8 November stations
1957. The report of the internal
inquiry headed by Bill Penney, one The three main models for the development consent procedure for the siting of a
of the leading government scientists nuclear plant which require consideration are:
within the Atomic Energy Authority,
was highly critical of technical,
organisational and management (1) the current approach, involving a decision on a development consent application
failings at Windscale. Macmillan by the relevant minister under the Electricity Act 1989, similar to that used to
ordered that the bulk of the report approve Sizewell B – the most recent of the existing nuclear fleet
be destroyed, for risk of jeopardising (2) the Planning Bill approach, bringing power stations within a modified planning
Anglo-American cooperation: system, containing a streamlined procedure capable of making investment more
Hennessey (n 12).
15 HC Debs 8 October 194 col 36. attractive
16 HC Debs 30 July 1956 col 859. (3) parliamentary approval (eg the hybrid (public/private) act procedure used in the
17 ‘It has been all too easy for successive context of the channel tunnel).
governments and industry to push
these costs onto future taxpayers …
The Nuclear Decommissioning What are the relevant issues from the standpoint of European participation law?
Authority is now faced with the task
of getting to grips with the legacy of (1) The current approach: section 36 Electricity Act
this repeated deferral and the
massive challenge of cleaning up There is nothing to stop a prospective operator of a nuclear power station from making
these sites’ (Note 13 para 1). an application under the Electricity Act (EA)1989, section 36. This vests in the Secretary

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