Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace pledged to continue their legal battle yesterday, after losing a high court bid to overturn British government approval of the MOX reprocessing plant at Sellafield.
The environmentalists, who insist the plant is economically unjustified, were granted leave to appeal the high court's ruling that the British government committed "no error of law" when it sanctioned the manufacture of mixed oxide fuel at the British Nuclear Fuels plant in Cumbria last month.
Praising the ruling, BNFL said it was "good news" for the plant, the workforce and the local economy. "Our customers have been very patient and we now want to get on with the job of manufacturing MOX fuel for them."
But outside the court, Friends of the Earth condemned as "crazy economics" Mr Justice Collins's ruling that the British government adopted the correct economic approach when it disregarded the £470 million sterling construction and other costs of setting up the plant when assessing the economic case for manufacturing MOX. He also ruled that an EU basic safety standards directive did not compel the Environment Secretary, Mrs Margaret Beckett, and the Health Secretary, Mr Alan Milburn, to include the £470 million ("sunk") costs in their considerations. In addition, Mr Justice Collins said no "bad faith" was suggested on BNFL's part because it applied for approval to manufacture MOX after construction and other costs were incurred.
Convinced a challenge in the court of appeal would succeed, Mr Charles Secrett, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said Mr Justice Collins's ruling was "dangerous" for the public. "Obviously this is a bitter blow. It was a precedent-setting decision on the economics of new nuclear building," he said.
"Essentially, the judge has said that when it comes to new nuclear building it's possible for the government and the company, BNFL, to write-off totally the construction costs in putting forward an economic case for a new nuclear plant. We can only hope that the Irish Government is more successful than we were today.
"This plant must be stopped. It must not open. It's far too dangerous and it is an utter waste of money."
Mr Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said the battle to stop MOX "is by no means over" and he argued there were other, non-economic grounds, why the plant should not go ahead. "It is a terrorist threat, it will make the area directly around Cumbria less safe by expanding Sellafield and it's also producing plutonium which is the main component of nuclear weapons," Mr Tindale added. A challenge in the court of appeal was set for November 27th.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Collins ruled the British government could, once the net positive value was determined, decide that other factors which had not been taken into account - such as the benefits flowing from BNFL's other businesses - "tip the balance" in favour of manufacturing MOX.