[25][26] SHE as one of the major opponents, spent over £50,000 on their campaign to halt construction of Hinkley C.[24]: 54  Members participated in the 14-month long public inquiry, which ran from the end of 1988 through December 1989, and heard from over 600 witnesses.

[36] That same month, a group of MPs and academics, concerned that the 'talks lack the necessary democratic accountability, fiscal and regulatory checks and balances', called for the National Audit Office to conduct a detailed review of the negotiations between the Department of Energy and Climate Change and EDF.

[37] In October 2013, the government announced that it had agreed a contract for difference for the electricity production of Hinkley Point C with a strike price of £89.50 per MWh, with the plant expected to be completed in 2023 and remain operational for 60 years.

[41][42][43] Joaquín Almunia, the EU Competition Commissioner, referred to the plans as "a complex measure of an unprecedented nature and scale"[40] and said that the European Commission is "not under any legal time pressure to complete the investigation".

In March 2014, the Court of Appeal allowed An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, to challenge the legality of the decision by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to grant development consent.

[45] In July 2014, the Court of Appeal rejected An Taisce's application on the basis 'that severe nuclear accidents were very unlikely... no matter how low the threshold for a "likely" significant effect on the environment... the likelihood of a nuclear accident was so low that it could be ruled out even applying the stricter Waddenzee approach'[46] The UN, under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, ordered the Department for Communities and Local Government to send a delegation to face the committee in December 2014, on the "profound suspicion" that the UK failed to properly consult neighbouring countries.

[59] On the same day, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark announced that the government would delay its decision until the autumn of 2016 to "consider carefully all the component parts of this project", including Britain's national security.

[61] In August 2016, it was reported that 'civil servants are looking to see if there is any loophole, clause or issue in contracts yet to be signed that allow the Government to pull back without huge loss and while also saving face',[62] that Beijing 'will resist any compromise on the deal',[63] and that one option under consideration is to approve Hinkley Point C but delay a decision on the Bradwell reactor.

[88] In November 2012, it was announced that the UK's ONR had awarded a nuclear site licence to NNB Generation Company, a subsidiary created by EDF Energy.

[6] In March 2013, three environmental permits setting levels for emissions from the proposed power station were granted and planning consent was given, but agreement on electricity pricing was still required before building could start.

The project is part of the UK's plans to implement a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by the mid-2020s, which provides for building Hinkley Point C and several other nuclear power plants.

[38][100] In September 2016, the government confirmed it would give EDF a contract for difference for power from the project, imposing significant new safeguards for future foreign investment in critical infrastructure.

[101] On 15 March 2019, the Environment Agency invited comments on an environmental permit application from NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited for Hinkley Point C Power Station, with a closing date of 26 July 2019.

[109] In December 2013, Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman and CEO of Ineos said he had recently agreed to purchase nuclear power in France at £37.94 (€45) per MWh and warned of the Hinkley Point C project: "Forget it.

[120] One analyst at Liberium Capital described the strike price as 'economically insane' in October 2013: "as far as we can see this makes Hinkley Point the most expensive power station in the world... on a leveraged basis we expect EDF to earn a Return on Equity (ROE) well in excess of 20% and possibly as high as 35%".

[122] According to a March 2014 report by Policy Connect, ROE could be between around 19 and 21%, with "broadly two possible reasons...firstly, the risks faced by EDF could genuinely be greater, therefore commanding a higher rate of return.

[132] In February 2016, Jean Bernard Lévy, EDF Chief Executive, confirmed a 68% drop in net profits and cut in dividend, saying that a final investment decision on the project would follow 'when all this is fully organised'.

[133] In March 2016, Thomas Piquemal, EDF's Chief Financial Officer resigned after 'saying the company should wait another three years before making the final investment decision on the project' where Jean Bernard Lévy disagreed 'saying he wanted it to happen as early as next month'.

[134][135] In March 2016, Jean Bernard Lévy wrote to EDF staff that he was in talks to 'obtain commitments from the state to help secure our financial position' and would 'not engage in the [Hinkley Point] project before these conditions are met'.

[140] In December 2023, recently nationalised EDF was confirmed to be the sole private guarantor of the project as it currently stands, with CGN's exposure limited to figures agreed on in 2016.

The site managing director said EDF had "found civil construction slower than we hoped and faced inflation, labour and material shortages, on top of Covid and Brexit disruption".

[146] "The French and German governments have also required Areva to enable the reactor’s safety systems and spent fuel building to withstand the crash of a military aircraft.

The group is reportedly concerned that the new generation of power stations will store nuclear waste on site until a permanent repository is found, claiming that this is an unknown length of time and could potentially take decades.

Members of several anti-nuclear groups that are part of the Stop New Nuclear alliance barred access to Hinkley Point power station in protest at EDF Energy's plans to renew the site with two new reactors.

[citation needed] On 8 October 2012, the Stop New Nuclear Alliance organised a mass trespass at the site earmarked for Hinkley C. A total of eight people were arrested, mainly for cutting through the wire of the perimeter fence.

[173] In 2015, Nick Timothy, political adviser to Theresa May, wrote an article to oppose People's Republic of China's involvement in sensitive sectors such as the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project.

"[174][175][176] On 23 June 2017, the National Audit Office published a report on Hinkley Point C. The conclusions were summarised as follows: "The Department has committed electricity consumers and taxpayers to a high cost and risky deal in a changing energy marketplace.

"[177] On 25 March 2018, The Guardian reported that: "The UK nuclear regulator has raised concerns with EDF Energy over management failings that it warns could affect safety at the Hinkley Point C power station if left unaddressed"; the original ONR report stated "some arrangements are below standard and ONR is seeking improvements against a number of Regulatory Issues that have been raised under Licence Condition 17 (Management Systems)".

[184] In 2021 the Welsh Government's expert panel Hinkley Point C Stakeholder Reference Group[98] investigated the potential effect of cooling water pumping on fish populations.

[202][203] This proposal obtained planning permission in 1990 following a public inquiry,[204] but was dropped as uneconomic in the early 1990s when the electric power industry was privatised and low interest rate government finance was no longer available.