Campaigners held a protest march against the use of Radley Lakes in Oxfordshire for ash disposal from Didcot power station. RWE nPower received planning consent from Oxfordshire County Council last month to dispose of surplus ash from Didcot A power station in an old gravel pit at Radley and restore the site to Oxfordshire countryside.
Protesters object to the loss of the lake habitat and its asociated ecology.
According to the company it intends to keep local people informed about all activity and it has been disposing of ash and restoring the old gravel pits at Radley since the mid-1980s with very few problems. nPower says it intends to ensure this continues.
The Save Radley Lakes group says the lake habitat contains some rare species that will disappear if the ash disposal proceeds.
John Rainford, Power Station Manager at Didcot A, said:
“It is good news that final planning permission has now been granted. With a secure, 24-7 route for disposal of ash that cannot be recycled now in place, the power station can continue to provide electricity for two million homes in Southern England, helping to guarantee a secure supply for the coming years. Recycling ash remains our preferred means of ash disposal, as demonstrated by the successful installation of a £3 million ash reprocessing plant over a year ago.”
The company intends to begin work in Spring. As many trees as possible are to be retained and fish are to be captured and safely relocated under development plans.
Mr. Rainford continued:
“We are committed to carrying out ash disposal in a responsible way and the impact of work upon local residents will be kept to an absolute minimum”.
Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA)
PFA is commonly recycled into products for the construction industry but problems include matching supply to demand, as power stations produce most of their ash during the winter while the peak time for construction is summer, and customers in the concrete and readymix cement sectors require a stable pulverised fuel ash carbon content, while ash from the power stations is variable.
PFA has many uses, including cement and concrete manufacture, where it enhances strength
and durability. It is also used as fill material, a lightweight aggregate and in building blocks.
The company says that Bullfield Lake to the south will remain in its current form, separated from the construction by a protective bund built within Thrupp Lake. Construction works are to be overseen by an independent ecologist who will help set up the protective boundaries for wildlife, and also helping to preserve as much bank, shrubs, and trees as is possible.
Once Thrupp Lake has been filled, final ecological restoration of the site will begin. This will encourage a diverse range of plants and animals to flourish as has happened at earlier lake infills on the site which have been included in the area’s designation as holding ‘County Wildlife Status’, according to the company.
Andy Boddington, of the Campaign for Rural England, said:
"The community loves this landscape, they love Thrupp Lake and they love the wildlife."
Mr Rainford concluded:
“This is our most extensive ecological restoration project at Radley. Once the site is restored, it will be designated as a wildlife area and we would like to set up a trust to maintain it. A priority will be balancing the need for protected areas for wildlife with public access for local people to enjoy the area”.
Other RWE nPower plans
RWE npower also recently announced plans to build a state-of-the-art combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station at a cost of around £800 million. The company has appointed Alstom as contractor to carry out the work.
The company has identified two potential sites for the new gas fired power station; Staythorpe, near Newark in Nottinghamshire, and Pembroke in West Wales, the site of now demolished coal and oil-fired power stations.
It has also given the green light to a further £100m investment in new wind farm developments including Little Cheyne Court in Kent and Knabs Ridge in Yorkshire.