This Halloween, the Chair of the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities has written to the Chief Executives of nine major investment firms urging them not to invest in the 'nightmare' of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station and to instead back green energy. 

It is another blow for Felixstowe MP Therese Coffey, especially in her new role Secretary of State for DEFRA, as the Government has pledged to back the Sizewell C project.

The targeted companies, Abrdn, Aviva, Brookfield Asset Management, Centrica, Greencoat Capital, the Phoenix Group, Rothesay, the Scottish Widows – Lloyds Banking Group, and the Universities Superannuation Fund, are amongst the biggest investors in UK infrastructure projects and it is inevitable that they will be approached to invest by the government and by Barclays Bank, who have been appointed by ministers to secure private backers for Sizewell C. In the case of Aviva this is the second time the NFLA has made contact. 

In his letter, Councillor David Blackburn identifies the financial pitfalls of any private business investing in the uncertainties of Sizewell C:  'Recent experience has shown that nuclear projects are invariably delivered very late, at a cost way over their initial budget, can be accompanied by lengthy legal and regulatory disputes between contracting parties and with government agencies, and are bitterly opposed at every stage by local campaigners. Indeed, many such projects have ultimately failed to come to fruition, leaving corporate investors with a huge financial headache. In short to invest in nuclear is financial madness'.

The primary concerns of the NFLA are however more about the impact of the project on the environment, the local ecosystem and the people who reside in the surrounding communities: 

He added: 'The proposed Sizewell C site would threaten adjoining nature reserves of great beauty and especial scientific interest (even the RSPB is opposed), and it is located on a heritage coast that is subject to coastal erosion and the plant would be threatened in coming years by rising sea levels. The plant will also require an unsustainable amount of potable water threatening the supplies of the local population and wildlife. 

'Coupled with the disruption caused by prolonged construction, the repeated movements of huge volumes of workers, vehicles and building materials along inadequate local roads, and the unsustainable additional pressure on infrastructure, these factors mean that Sizewell C will amount to an ecological and societal disaster'.

Instead of backing the nightmare, Councillor Blackburn would like these investors to redirect their money towards renewables instead:

He said: "Sizewell C and new nuclear is not the answer to Britain's energy crisis nor to the climate emergency – it is way too expensive and would come at least twenty years too late. Big investors would be better backing renewables which would generate real green power at a much lower cost, much more quickly, and without the disastrous toxic legacy of radioactive waste. Then they could make a financial return, whilst doing a whole lot of good for our planet!"