>**Case Study: Hinkley Point C Fish Protection**
Hinkley Point C will have more fish protection measures **than any other power station in the world**. It has spent £700 million on their design and implementation, as set out in the HPC’s Development Consent Order (DCO).
>There will be three systems in place: Low Velocity Side Entry water intake heads (£500M), a Fish Recovery and Return System (FRR) (£150m), and an Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) (£50M). The AFD is a system that emits low frequency pulses to startle and repel fish before they enter the intakes for the cooling system, a technology that has had to be adapted from the fishing industry where it is used to reduce by-catches.
>Modelling and data collection by EDF has found that these measures would save 0.083 salmon per year, along with 0.028 sea trout, 6 river lamprey, 18 Allis shad, and 528 twaite shad (or possibly fewer than 100 twaite shad on more recent estimates).
>The assessment to compile these numbers required EDF to catch fish, anesthetise them, inject them with a chip to follow their movements to avoid double-counting, and put 96 sensors on the intake heads.
>**Note: we give this example to illustrate how the current system works and the incentives and constraints it imposes. Any criticism should focus on the system rather than on EDF and regulators.**
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The section from the taskforce report:
>**Case Study: Hinkley Point C Fish Protection**
Hinkley Point C will have more fish protection measures **than any other power station in the world**. It has spent £700 million on their design and implementation, as set out in the HPC’s Development Consent Order (DCO).
>There will be three systems in place: Low Velocity Side Entry water intake heads (£500M), a Fish Recovery and Return System (FRR) (£150m), and an Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) (£50M). The AFD is a system that emits low frequency pulses to startle and repel fish before they enter the intakes for the cooling system, a technology that has had to be adapted from the fishing industry where it is used to reduce by-catches.
>Modelling and data collection by EDF has found that these measures would save 0.083 salmon per year, along with 0.028 sea trout, 6 river lamprey, 18 Allis shad, and 528 twaite shad (or possibly fewer than 100 twaite shad on more recent estimates).
>The assessment to compile these numbers required EDF to catch fish, anesthetise them, inject them with a chip to follow their movements to avoid double-counting, and put 96 sensors on the intake heads.
>**Note: we give this example to illustrate how the current system works and the incentives and constraints it imposes. Any criticism should focus on the system rather than on EDF and regulators.**
[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692080f75c394e481336ab89/nuclear-regulatory-review-2025.pdf](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692080f75c394e481336ab89/nuclear-regulatory-review-2025.pdf)