The entrainment and capture of fish on screens for cooling water intakes of power stations is relatively well understood. The status of many migratory fish stocks that use estuaries are in many regions under threat. One would have thought that any devices that mitigated against unwanted bycatch of fish by cooling intakes would have been worth investment. It will be interesting to see what evidence the company have collected to show why deterrent devices are not needed at Hinkley.

Bob Earll 

Consultation on the use of fish deterrent devices at Hinkley Point power station

‘The Environment Agency have received an application to vary an existing environmental permit, under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, from NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited at the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, near Bridgwater.

Permit application number EPR/HP3228XT/V004

The company now wants to vary their existing permit to amend or remove conditions relating to the design and operation of the Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) system. This was initially proposed as part of the station’s marine intake system i.e. pipes used to abstract cooling water from the Severn Estuary. The original permit was granted by the Environment Agency in 2013 and covered the discharge of trade effluent, consisting of cooling water, back into the Severn Estuary. The initial design required the company to abstract and discharge this cooling water using three measures, which would work together to reduce the environmental impact of this activity. The measures included in the original permit were a Low Velocity Side Entry intake (LVSE), a Fish Recovery & Return (FRR) system and an Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) system. This link takes you to all the reports and details provided in the backup to the decision.’