BRADWELL-ON-SEA: New nuclear power station plan opposed

By lcooper

THE proposal for a new nuclear power station at Bradwell-on-Sea has been criticised by residents at a series of public meetings.

British Energy, joint owners of the site, led the consultation at Tollesbury last Thursday as residents expressed fears over health, transport links, evacuation procedures and flood risks – and dismissed the prospect of 500 jobs.

Royal Haskoning is currently conducting an environmental impact assessment of the site adjacent to the existing decommissioned power station, on behalf of British Energy.

One resident mentioned a German report which claims that the risk of leukaemia is more than doubled within a three-mile radius of radioactive power stations.

She said: "There isn't enough information about health risks. We simply do not know what the causes are."

But environmental consultant Lyall Seale said: "There is a very clear position that there is no determined cause or link between nuclear power stations and adverse health."

The question of evacuation of Mersea Island, where 8,000 people live, was also raised as the road from it is inaccessible at high tide. British Energy said it would be up to the site owners to put forward a nuclear emergency evacuation plan.

A choke point in Tollesbury, on the High Street near the Kings Head pub, was also identified as a major traffic concern in the event of evacuation.

Professor Andy Blowers, chairman of BANNG, a group against Bradwell as a site for a new nuclear power station, said: "People think its a new nuclear power station, but this is going to be a high-level radioactive waste site which is going to be under water in 100 years."

Val Mainwood, of the green campaign group Bradwell for Renewable Energy, said there was a very real fear that the whole of the Dengie peninsula would become industrial if the proposal went ahead.

A £12.4billion merger between British Energy and EDF Energy, expected early next year, could see the Bradwell site put up for auction to allow industry competition.

Final decisions regarding a planning application for the site at Bradwell will not be made until the Government has concluded a high level assessment of site suitability.

Further meetings are planned for Tuesday November 25 at Southminster Memorial Hall, 2.30-5pm; Wednesday November 26, Steeple Village Hall, 10am-12.30pm, and Cold Norton Village Hall, 6.30-9pm.