OUR SITES: OLDBURY

Land at Shepperdine, near the village of Oldbury in South Gloucestershire and on the banks of the Severn Estuary provides all the essential requirements of, and is a good location for, a potential new nuclear plant. The new station would deliver much needed low carbon power generation. The site boasts a strong history of nuclear power generation, an experienced local skills base and good connection into the electricity transmission network.

150 hectares of land next to the existing Magnox nuclear power station at Oldbury has been included in the Government's draft list of sites deemed strategically suitable for new nuclear development. Horizon Nuclear Power successfully acquired land here through a Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) auction in April 2009 and in Autumn last year completed preliminary ground investigation works to get a better understanding of the site.

As part of this, we are currently looking at the type of reactor that could be built at Oldbury. This involves an in-depth review of the two technologies still being considered as part of the Government's ongoing Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process. More information on the technologies can be found on the Government's website.

The NPS process will decide upon Oldbury's strategic suitability for a new station (though planning permission would still be required). Further details can be found on the Government's nuclear siting website.

A new nuclear power station at Oldbury would generate substantially more electricity than the existing station which means that cooling towers will be required to cool the steam used to generate electricity. A study is currently underway to assess the different types of cooling towers that could be used. This study will incorporate the environmental, economic and visual impacts of each technology.

We are committed to keeping the local community informed at all stages of the development process. In 2009 we held two rounds of exhibitions, a drop-in surgery session and distributed newsletters to communities close to of Oldbury, to inform residents of our plans. We will continue and expand these public engagement activities in 2010 and also hold formal pre-application consultations in line with the requirements of the new planning regime. These will give local communities the opportunity to have their say and help shape our plans for a potential new nuclear power station.

Document library

Consenting process documents:

The scoping report sets out the scope of detailed studies proposed to establish the environmental impact of the project. This will result in an Environmental Statement which is an essential part of the planning application.

To download a copy of the Oldbury Scoping Opinion issued by the IPC as a PDF, please click on the link: Scoping Opinion (April 2010)

To download a copy of the Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report summary and associated documents, which accompanied our request for an opinion through the IPC, please click on the link: Scoping Report

To download a copy of the Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report - Response To Public Feedback, please click on the link: Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report - Response To Public Feedback

Newsletter distribution:

Our regular community update newsletter is now distributed to 14,000 homes close to our proposed site. The recently expanded distribution area can be seen on the following map and will be reviewed as the project develops, please click on the link: Map of distribution area

If you live are outside of these areas you can still sign up for an electronic version of the newsletter by contacting us by either email or on the freephone number. Hard copies are also made available to local parish councils.

Newsletters:

Public exhibition materials:

November 2009 public exhibition brochure
November 2009 public information inserts
NB There was also a brochure developed for the March 2009 sessions.

FAQs:

We are currently in the process of developing an Oldbury website in order to provide all stakeholders and members of the community with detailed information on our development plans. We anticipate that the site will go live in 2010.

Please click here for Oldbury FAQs