The Severn Barrage: Why it will cause major problems for all nearby.

This is an unedited recording of an interview I did in 2007 for a documentary on the Severn, before the debate on renewable energy really started to kick in. The batton has been taken up by a number of organisations since then, most notably the Save Our Severn campaign, because of the very real risk of severe degradation of habitat and increased levels of flood risk due to siltation in the estuary. No one in government, or contract contenders for the scheme has ever explained how they are going to solve the silt issue. You only have to see the huge ongoing silt removal effort that is carried out at Sharpness Docks and power station to keep operational to understand the size of the issue. Has anyone factored in the dredging costs to keep the channels open for shipping etc? At the moment, the tide does this naturally. You only have to look at the Bay of Fundy scheme to see the huge problems they have had there with silt in their barrage to see the folly of this 'grand design'.

If we're so desperate to have tidal power, what about the Menai Straight as a source to test the technology?

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Severn Bore
• Severn Barrage
• River Severn
• Gloucester
• Swimbridge
• tidal bores
• tidal barrage.

[ROCKSOLID19]

You just want to keep the bore don't you, "BORE LOVING MAD SURFER"? o-O

[kudu222]

@ROCKSOLID19 Thank you for your comments, this is a free country and you are entitled to your opinions, just like I am. The barrage idea has been around for over 40 years, each proposal has been turned down on economic and not just environmental grounds. It is interesting that The Ranse is the only one working, purely because it's geology is different (granite). The Peticodiac has been dismantled because of siltation. Thankfully common sense so far has prevailed in the case of the Severn.

[ROCKSOLID19]

Those who oppose the barrage and many others now and in the near future should not express opinion. Who wants another Fuckupshima and Gulf Oil disaster? This Severn Barrage has NO reactor core that could blow up and the energy comes from the eb and flow of the tide, not some sticky, environmentally harmful substance that has been in the ground for millions of years.

[kudu222]

@ROCKSOLID19 You seem to forget there are nuclear facilities right on this estuary, more silt in the basin will make this position harder in future. There are plenty of better sites for tidal power in UK waters than the Severn which would be more efficient, less costly to build, less environmentally damaging. That is what the research shows, has done consistently for 50 years, before the politicians got involved. Read the scientific papers, study the facts and be better informed.

[ROCKSOLID19]

@kudu222 I do not know how frequently you use Youtube and all that and frankly, I don't care. Judging by your lack of response about my comment on keeping the tidal bore in the Severn and "better off building it on the Menai Straits" as you mentioned in the video, I seem to silence you. Your silence is deafening, Mr Tidal Bore Surfer. The barrage won't damage nuclear facilities on the Severn, In France, China & other nations they use water from rivers and lakes, MUCH more shallow than the sea.

[kudu222]

@ROCKSOLID19 Pardon the pun, but your argument is baseless. I agree with your observation that no damage has been done to a plant, that's because an awful lot of money is spent every year removing silt from the cooling ponds and cooling system every year at Oldbury and Sharpness. This will increase exponentially with the increased siltation caused by a barrage preventing this silt that is normally in suspension and carried out of the estuary by tidal flows. Nothing to do with depth of water!

[ROCKSOLID19]

@kudu222 The Ran'C'e with a C, is in France as you know. The tidal effects there are different. JUST SAY IT! It is because you want to maintain the bore. YOU have not answered my question on the Menai Straits, why there. You don't want to answer them do you? Think before you claim please. Don't accuse me of not doing my homework. I asked you questions on Trawsfynnydd and filtering which remains unanswered because I believe I stumped you.

Its "common sense" to utilise natural tidal energy.

[ROCKSOLID19]

And please, im in uni for engineering so don't call my arguments baseless.

[ROCKSOLID19]

@kudu222 No matter if the water is clear or silted up, it is still filtered. Trawsfynydd power station for example in North Wales (MY BACK YARD) was fresh water cooled BUT it still needed to be filtered. Don't you dare call my arguments baseless. Hydro power is an asset that the UK fails to grasp and the dipshit prime minister won't even consider natural energy from the barrage.

What inflames me the most about you is that you rather see the barrage built elsewhere i.e. Menai Straits.

[ROCKSOLID19]

@kudu222 YOU also mentioned the Menai Straits, which is MY back yard. I am more than happy to see a barrage on the Abermenai Point but why say that it is better to put a barrage on the Menai Strait instead of the big scale Severn? EXPLAIN. Do you see it better that way? A barrage being built in Wales rather than England o-0? Yes it is shallow but won't produce much as the Severn.

Technology & understanding has moved on from those 50 years ago, good research but in some ways, irrevelant now.

[ROCKSOLID19]

I am in training as an electrical engineer, this includes geographics! I experienced hydro & nuclear power stations along with a refinery. There has been no evidence that silting up has caused damage to a nuke facility. The Magnox reactors have a good safety record despite their ageing state.

You want the dam built elsewhere then? Solway Firth? Firth of Fourt? Morcambe Bay? The Wash? Dee Estuary? Thames Estuary? The Solent? Anywhere except your back yard!