Nuclear in UK Law

This is precisely what happened on the facts of the present case. The elaborate regulatory regime for nuclear power stations is described in the Witness Statements filed on behalf of the Defendant and the Interested Party.

There is no basis for this distinction, which is both unrealistic and unsupported by any authority. The distinction is unrealistic because elements of many major development projects, particularly the kind of projects within Annex I to the EIA Directive, will still be subject to design changes, and applying Mr. Wolfe's approach those projects will not have "already been designed" at the time when an environmental impact has to be carried out.

The position in Gateshead is analogous to the situation here. First, there is no doubt that the existence of a stringent regime for authorisation and planning control is a clear material consideration.

At the time of the Secretary of State's consideration of whether to grant development consent there was no evidence to suggest that the risk of an accident was more than a bare and remote possibility. In the instant case the regulatory regime is in existence precisely to oversee the safety of nuclear sites. There is nothing in the Directive and Article 7, in particular, to require the regulatory regime to be disregarded.

In my judgment there is no reason that precludes the Secretary of State from being able to have regard to, and rely upon, the existence of a stringently operated regulatory regime for future control. Because of its existence, he was satisfied, on a reasonable basis, that he had sufficient information to enable him to come to a final decision on the development consent application.

There is a breach of the peace whenever a person who is lawfully carrying out his work is unlawfully and physically prevented by another from doing it. He is entitled by law peacefully to go on with his work on his lawful occasions. If anyone unlawfully and physically obstructs the worker—by lying down or chaining himself to a rig or the like—he is guilty of a breach of the peace.