Env. Agency decides to approve Bradwell FED waste discharges into Blackwater Estuary, Essex
The Environment Agency, as licensing authority, has granted consent in March 2017 for waste nitrate, heavy metal and radioactive material — arising from the treatment by dissolution in nitric acid with associated recovery of radionuclides of the fuel element debris arising from the historic operation of the now decommissioned Bradwell nuclear power plant – to be discharged into the Blackwater Estuary. The estuary is a MCZMCZ Marine Conservation Zone on account of its native oysters, and a SACSAC Special Areas of Conservation/SPASPA Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are strictly protected sites classified in accordance with Article 4 of the EC Birds Directive, which came into force in April 1979. They are classified for rare and vulnerable birds (as listed on Annex I of the Directive), and for regularly occurring migratory species./SSSISSSI Site of special scientific interest on account of its wild birds. We provide here text and references relating to the EA consent decision, along with a brief summary of the situation from Marinet’s perspective.
