Photo by American Public Power Association
Natural England has issued a rare public rebuttal of media coverage alleging that it is obstructing construction of Hinkley Point C, calling the claims inaccurate and insisting its environmental advice has been consistent since the project’s original planning consent was granted in 2013.
The dispute centres on what measures are needed to protect migratory fish in the Severn Estuary from the Somerset nuclear plant’s cooling water intakes. Writing in February, Natural England’s Regional Director Dave Slater explained that the plant will draw 132 cubic metres of water from the estuary every second, the equivalent of 190 Olympic-sized swimming pools every hour, and that EDF estimates over seven million fish would be drawn into the intakes annually without mitigation.
The ‘fish disco’ row
The controversy intensified after The Daily Telegraph reported on 2 May that Natural England had told developer EDF that existing plans – including a £700m package of fish protection equipment and an underwater loudspeaker system dubbed the “fish disco” – would not be sufficient to satisfy environmental rules, and that the creation of new salt marshes might also be required. The article prompted sharp criticism from industry figures, with Sam Richards, chief executive of the think tank Britain Remade, quoted as saying Natural England had “become a direct threat to Britain’s energy security.”
Natural England responded the following day, describing the claims as inaccurate and stating that it was not demanding salt marsh creation, had issued no ultimatum, and was not responsible for any delay to the project’s 2030 target opening date.
What EDF’s trials have shown
The acoustic fish deterrent (AFD), developed with Swansea University, has produced encouraging results. EDF’s own fish protection pages show that sea trials found only one tagged twaite shad came within 30 metres of the intake heads after the AFD was switched on, compared to 14 without it; suggesting effectiveness of more than 90%. Additional tank testing was due to continue throughout the first half of 2026, with results to be submitted for regulatory approval later in the year.
Natural England acknowledged those results but pointed out that field data for Atlantic salmon and cod, species with different behaviours and conservation status, was not yet available. It rejected the claim that it had ignored positive trial data, stating it had “explicitly recognised and welcomed the encouraging results.”
The Wildlife Trusts have taken a different angle, challenging EDF’s characterisation of the cost and scale of its fish protection measures, arguing that the actual cost of the deterrent system was £50 million, not £700 million as EDF had claimed, and that the wider figure encompassed plant safety measures unrelated to fish protection.
Natural England’s actual position
Natural England was clear that the mitigation requirements it is advising on were not new impositions. The measures were agreed by all parties, including EDF, as part of the original Development Consent Order. Its role, the regulator said, is solely to advise on whether those agreed measures will be effective, not to introduce new ones.
Slater has long maintained that development and environmental protection are compatible goals: “Development and nature are not competing interests. Building the UK’s largest nuclear power station is a major undertaking which brings significant environmental challenges and we are playing our part in finding solutions to enable this vital infrastructure development to go ahead while improving environmental outcomes.”
Natural England also pushed back on suggestions that it is contradicting government policy on proportionate regulation, stating that enabling major infrastructure while ensuring legal compliance is “exactly the approach Natural England is taking at Hinkley Point C.”
The Severn Estuary, the regulator noted in February, is home to the highest recorded number of fish species anywhere in the UK and is a critical nursery habitat. Atlantic salmon populations have suffered a crash of nearly 50% over the past two decades – a figure that underlines, from Natural England’s perspective, why the stakes around mitigation are high.