CAMPAIGNERS have hit out at the government for handing the Sizewell C project a further £170 million in what they called “another kick in the teeth” for struggling taxpayers.

The latest funding to speed up the nuclear plant development brings the total amount of public money handed to energy firm EDF for the project close to £1 billion.

Sizewell C, in Suffolk, is part of the government-arm Great British Nuclear (GBN) body’s plans to rapidly expand nuclear power in Britain.

Local campaign group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) has warned that the government is destroying habitat within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty through the project.

The group is currently amid a legal challenge against the project.

TASC chairwoman Jenny Kirtley said: “Even in the face of all the hurdles the project has still to jump, EDF blithely ploughs on with its preparatory work, ripping the heart out of our fragile environment, increasing anxiety for residents, largely financed by the government. 

“If EDF had a shred of decency, it would do the right thing and halt further work until the site licence is granted, a supply of mains water has been secured, permits issued, and the outcome of the judicial review appeal is known.

“If Sizewell C doesn’t get regulatory approval or sufficient investment — still entirely possible outcomes — we will be left with a diminished Heritage Coast and find UK plc £1bn worse off.

“Just think what we could have done to drive down demand for electricity with a billion pounds.”

It comes as the MPs in the science, innovation and technology committee published a report today, saying that the GBN plans are more of a “wish list” and remain ambiguous.

The report warns that the government’s own most recent energy security plan offers little clue about how measures will be implemented.

Current plans, MPs warn, do “not amount to the comprehensive, detailed and specific strategy that we believe is required if the government’s aspirations are to be delivered.”

Stop Sizewell C welcomed the committee’s call for clarity on the financing of gigawatt-scale nuclear projects as it said that “doing so will expose just how unjustifiable this slow, risky, expensive project is.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We have already made clear we will publish a nuclear roadmap and consult on alternative routes to market by the end of the year.”