Hinkley Point C is facing a backlash from environmental campaigners over its possible negative impact on local aquatic life.
In order to cool its reactors, the new nuclear power station will need to draw the equivalent of three Olympic swimming pools of cooling water each minute from the Severn estuary, which is a nature conservation site. But fish can also be sucked into the system through this process, damaging local populations while clogging intakes and filters, resulting in costly shutdowns and damaging the surrounding ecosystem.
Plans were initially drawn up to install an acoustic fish deterrent (AFD) to keep aquatic life away from the intake vents. This system would use 280 speakers to make noise louder than an airliner – 24 hours a day for 60 years.
But Hinkley Point C owner EDF ultimately scrapped these proposals and instead announced plans to create more than 800 acres of saltmarsh on the River Parrett as an alternative that would create a new habitat for fish and improve local...