New nuclear plant at Sizewell set for green light

[Black Diamond]

I only ever went gliding once, and was amazed at the altitude that disturbed air rises to. I think it was about 500 feet IIRC, and the transition phase from lumpy to consistent air seemed surprisingly narrow. This was in Warwickshire, so plenty of land mass for wind to cross.

 

[PeterWright]

The new railway sidings at Lowestoft were perhaps a gamble that has now paid off - if they can deliver materials by rail again, that's got to be better than the lorries through the small towns and villages.

Building a nuclear power plant involves A lot of reinforced concrete. For Siyewell B, the ballast for the concrete was all sea dredged and pumped ashore to the site where it was washed and graded. The cement, fly ash and rebar was all delivered by rail to Leiston, travelling only the last mile to the site by road. The largest components were delivered to a purpose built (and subsequently demolished) beach landing facility by barge, in spite of the efforts of Greenpeace to interpose a flubber full of protesters between the shore and the vessel.

All these measures were more expensive than road delivery, but the extra was small, compared to the total cost of the project. I see no good reason why similar steps should not be taken during the construction of Sizewell C and Bradwell B (if it ever happens). There will still be a considerable extra burden on the local road system during construction so the project should be expected to pay for some road improvements as did Sizewell B and Sizewell A before it.

I'm afraid, I see little role for the Lowestoft sidings. Anything destined for the site to be delivered by rail would best be delivered to Leiston, where the railway halt is just outside the town on the power station side, so no need for road traffic through Leiston, or any other village to get from there to the site.

 

[ears media]

I was thinking more on the perhaps arrival by sea? Train freight to Leiston would probably come via Ipswich, but there must be a plan to justify the huge expense of the new sidings? They're not used at the moment, so only Sizewell would be something big and new happening?