Government loses nuclear power case

This sorry story demonstrates that it doesn’t pay to take short cuts with due process. It is always better to take some short term pain for success in the longer term.

The key points are

Greenpeace said the government failed to present clear proposals and information on key issues surrounding a new generation of nuclear power stations, such as the disposal of radioactive waste and the financial costs of building new plants. Mr Justice Sullivan agreed, saying the information given on waste was "not merely inadequate but also misleading". He added that information of substance did not emerge until after the consultation period had ended.

The consultation document gave every appearance of being simply an "issues paper".

It contained no actual proposals and, even if it had, the information given to consultees was "wholly insufficient for them to make an intelligent response".

Mr Justice Sullivan said “Something has gone clearly and radically wrong" with the consultation exercise.

Fairness required that consultees should be given a proper opportunity to respond to that substantial amount of new material before any decision was taken.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,,2013618,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6364281.stm

It is also ironic in view of my post last May, where I said "Who says that decison has not already been taken !!!"
http://freds-take-on-the-world.blogspot.com/2006/05/be-green-and-say-yes-to-nuclear.html

The next question is whether the Government will appeal the judgement; if it does not, it will be interesting to see how the government puts the wheels back on!!