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The Green Party & Greenpeace to take legal action against the British government

This press release from the Green Party is a little more than a week old, but I wanted to share it anyway.

GREEN PARTY JOINS FORCES WITH GREENPEACE TO LAUNCH LEGAL CHALLENGE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT

We’re taking legal action against the government for deciding to support nuclear power without full public consultation.

During the 2006 energy review, many people suspected that Blair had already decided to build new nuclear reactors. As the chairman of the Trade and Industry Committee said, the Energy Review was “a rubber- stamping exercise for a decision [to build new nuclear power stations] the Prime Minister took some time ago.”

Three years ago, the government promised that “Before any decision to proceed with the building of new nuclear power stations, there would need to be the fullest public consultation and the publication of a white paper.” The government failed to carry out this full public consultation. Consultees weren’t given substantial information on, for example, how radioactive waste would be managed, siting reports, the proposed design of the reactors or how much they would cost. The Energy Review utterly failed to consult on these issues before the Prime Minister made his decision.

Green Party Principal Speaker Keith Taylor comments: “Nuclear power is enormously expensive and dangerous, and an issue of huge public concern. For the government to bring it in via the backdoor is appalling, and risks the lives of generations to come. That is why we are asking the High Court to intervene.”

Sarah North, head of Greenpeace’s nuclear campaign, explains: “This summer the government said it will support nuclear new build. This is a change in policy which they promised they would not make without the fullest public consultation and a White Paper.

Filing papers at the High Court will probably lead to a full judicial review. If the court quashes the government’s decision that the UK needs nuclear energy, it could force the government to go back and carry out a genuine public consultation – one that actually addresses issues relating to building new nuclear reactors comprehensively.

We’re not alone in thinking the review was a farce. The Sustainable Development Commission said: “Our Energy Challenge offers no information whatsoever on what any new nuclear programme might look like& people are being asked to comment on the potential contribution of a new nuclear programme without any of the key aspects (regarding reactor design, cost, waste management, liability issues, and so on) having been addressed.”

The House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee were concerned “about the manner in which this Energy Review has been conducted. Throughout the process, the Government has hinted strongly that it has already made its mind up on nuclear power. The last review took three years to complete, yet this one has been conducted in the space of six months. & What is more, it is clear to us that the outcome of the Energy Review has largely been determined before adequate consideration could possibly have been taken of important evidence that should inform the Government’s policy decision.”

And The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee said: “The nature of the current Energy Review is unclear-whether it is specifically fulfilling the Prime Minister’s desire to make a decision on nuclear, whether it is a review of electricity generating policy, whether it is a wider review of progress against the Energy White Paper, or whether it is reopening the broad policy debate which the White Paper itself encompassed. We are also concerned that it does not appear to have resulted from a due process of monitoring and accountability, and that the process by which it is being conducted appears far less structured and transparent than the process by which the White Paper itself was reached”.