Spurious legal challenges have added almost five years of delays to the construction of Britain’s new nuclear power stations - despite none of them being successful.
Lawyers have delayed the Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C power stations by 1,754 days so far and the holdups could cost taxpayers billions of pounds, according to a new report.
One legal challenge brought by environmental group Greenpeace against Hinkley Point C led to a delay of 150 days before it was eventually withdrawn.
The longest delay was 625 days and only ended after the Supreme Court refused permission to appeal against a High Cout ruling siding with the power station in Somerset.
Pro-nuclear thinktank Britain Remade has revealed details of the delays in a new report in which it warns that the cost of holdups caused by legal challenges ‘could run into the billions’.
