Overview
Bradwell B is a proposed nuclear power station near the village of Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex.
This new development has the potential to significantly harm the globally important wildlife of the Blackwater Estuary and the Dengie Peninsula. This wild, open landscape supports tens of thousands of wintering birds including dark-bellied brent geese, bar-tailed godwits and grey plovers. In the summer, the Blackwater is home to important populations of ringed plovers and little terns.
The site directly borders, and in places overlaps, areas protected by multiple national and international nature conservation designations. These include:
• Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) – the UK’s most important wildlife sites
• Special Protection Areas (SPAs) – a European designation designed to protect rare, vulnerable and migratory birds
• Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) – a European designation that protects important habitats and wildlife species
• Ramsar site - recognised wetlands of international importance
Bradwell is one of eight sites which have been identified by the Government as potentially appropriate locations to construct new nuclear power stations. Bradwell B would sit next to the former station (Bradwell A) which ceased operating in 2002.
The Government’s own initial sustainability appraisal of the Bradwell B site acknowledged that “there is the potential for adverse effects on sites and species considered to be of European nature conservation importance”.
Its initial assessment of impacts on the European designated sites also highlighted that the proposal would “encroach directly on the margins of the Essex Estuaries SAC and the Blackwater Estuary SPA/Ramsar and the Dengie Estuary SPA/Ramsar sites" while recognising that these sites are already “under threat from the effects of coastal squeeze which has been identified as a problem in the area.”
We will be closely following the progress of this development, updating this page and sharing our response to the public consultations.
