UK approval of Sizewell C nuclear plant lawful, court rules

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's approval of the planned Sizewell C nuclear plant was lawful, London's High Court ruled on Thursday, dismissing a legal challenge over the environmental impact of the project.

The building of the plant by French energy giant EDF in southeast England, capable of producing around 3.2 gigawatts of electricity or enough to power around 6 million homes, was approved in July 2022.

Campaign group Together Against Sizewell C argued at a hearing in March that Britain unlawfully failed to consider alternatives to nuclear power to meet its emissions targets.

But Judge David Holgate rejected the group's challenge in a written ruling on Thursday.

Holgate ruled Britain approved the project in line with its energy policy, which he said aimed to achieve "diversity of methods of generation and security of supply".

Together Against Sizewell C's case was an attempt "to rewrite the government's policy aims by pretending that the central policy objective is ... to produce clean energy, without any regard to diversity of energy sources and security of supply", Holgate ruled.

A spokesperson for Sizewell C welcomed the ruling, saying in a statement that the project will "unlock major benefits for Suffolk and the rest of Britain".

Together Against Sizewell C chair Jenny Kirtley said the decision "does not signal the end of our efforts", adding: "We will examine every avenue of opposition until all are exhausted."

EDF anticipates both reactors at Sizewell C will be operational by mid-2034, its lawyers said at the March hearing.

The British government announced in November that it would support Sizewell C with around 700 million pounds ($895 million) while taking a 50% stake during its development phase.

At the time, business minister Grant Shapps said the plant would secure "greater energy independence", a key focus since Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent energy costs surging.

($1 = 0.7822 pounds)

(Reporting by Sam Tobin, Editing by Kylie MacLellan and David Evans)