Regina (Friends of the Earth Ltd and Greenpeace Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Admn 15 Nov 2001

BNFL sought permission to operate a plant manufacturing MOX fuel from nuclear waste. The applicants sought judicial review of the respondent’s permission. The Act provided no way of challenging a plant before its construction. When permission was sought, it was on the basis that the construction costs, of andpound;300 million, having already been incurred no longer formed part of the economic equation against which it was to be assessed. There was no formal requirement for such an assessment but case law suggested it was required to test the economic benefit of the development. The claimants argued that the assessment should include the capital costs. The assessment should not be arbitrarily affected by the time at which it was carried out. The Minister argued that the law gave him a wide discretion as to how it should be assessed.
Held: Although the discretion was not as wide as had been argued, the Secretary of State had adopted a classic economic approach to sunk costs. That was within his discretion. Review refused.

Judges:

Mr Justice Collins

Citations:

[2001] EWHC Admin 914

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Radioactive Substances Act 1993, Euratom Treaty Directive 80/836 Articles 6(a) and 13, Directive 96/29

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Environment, European

Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.167263