Anti-nuclear campaigners blockade EDF's Hinkley Point nuclear power plant

From 6.30am until 10:45am, anti-nuclear campaigners from different anti-nuclear groups which are part of the Stop Nuclear Power Network [1] blockaded the access road to EDF's Hinkley Point nuclear power station in protest against EDF's plans for nuclear new build and what they are calling a flawed consultation.

Dressed in badger costumes, and locked on across the only access road to Hinkley Point nuclear power station, the activists protested against a flawed EDF consultation for a new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, which ends today. "This EDF-led consultation is a con" said Mell, a teacher from Suffolk. "While it is good to involve the local community, the main question - whether a new nuclear power station should be built or not - is not part of the consultation. What kind of democracy is this if the most important question - whether we want to expose ourselves and coming generations to nuclear danger and radioactive waste - is not part of the consultation?".

Even before EDF has secured planning permission for Hinkley Point C, the company wants to begin with 'enabling works', which has upset the local community. Nikki, a Bridgwater Mum said: "From this autumn on, EDF wants to dynamite and bulldoze 435 acre of green fields - habitats for badgers, bats, and other wildlife, and in close proximity to Bridgwater Bay, which is a sanctuary for thousands of waders, ducks, and other sea birds. It is a joke to think this land could be restored - as EDF claims - should Hinkley C not be built."[2]

"To resist EDF's plans for nuclear expansion, not only here at Hinkley Point, but also at Sizewell, Bradwell, Hartlepool, and Heysham, we call for a boycott of EDF [3]. EDF might try to greenwash itself, but however hard they try, EDF still stands for nuclear power, and here in Hinkley Point also for Eagerly Destroying Fields. As consumers, we have the power to make our opinion known by boycotting EDF, but also by taking nonviolent direct action. If EDF wants to nuke the climate and the planet, the nonviolent resistance is not just an option, but a duty - at Sizewell, and here at Hinkley Point" [4], says Nicola Deane from Suffolk.

Notes for journalists

[1] The Stop Nuclear Power Network is a UK-based non-hierarchical grassroots network of groups and individuals taking action against nuclear power and its expansion and supporting sustainable alternatives. We encourage and seek to facilitate nonviolent direct action, as well as more conventional forms of campaigning. For more information see http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net

[2] See Stop Hinkley's press release from 13 August 2010: EdF to dynamite and bulldoze Hinkley 44 acre greenfield site, http://stophinkley.org/PressReleases/pr100813.htm

[3] For more information on the campaign to boycott EDF, see http://boycottedf.org.uk

[4] Some of the activists involved in today's blockade also blockaded Sizewell nuclear power station in Suffolk on 22 February 2010. See http://stopnuclearpower.blogspot.com/2010/02/local-democracy-dumped-sizewell-nuclear.html

[5] Recently leaked documents of EDF show that the reactor technology chosen for Hinkley Point C is all but safe, and that a Chernobyl style catastrophe is possible. See Réseau "Sortir du nucléaire": EXCLUSIVE: Confidential EDF documents show serious accident risks with the EPR reactor, 30 September 2010, https://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/index.php?menu=english&sousmenu=presse&page=index