'Disruptive' protest planned at Hinkley Point (From Bridgwater Mercury)

'Disruptive' protest planned at Hinkley Point

4:50pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in Bridgwater Area News

A DEMONSTRATION designed to disrupt the operation of Hinkley Point nuclear power station is being planned for next month.

Members of the Stop Hinkley pressure group will be joined by leading environmentalist Jonathan Porritt for the demonstration on Saturday, March 10.

The protest will involve campaigners, who are calling for a halt to the development of Hinkley Point C, link hands to form a chain around the existing power station.

The date of the protest has been chosen to coincide with the first anniversary of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. It will also feature a 24-hour blockade of the entrance.

Mr Porritt said: “We can achieve everything we need in terms of secure, low-carbon energy primarily from energy efficiency, renewables and modern technologies like combined heat and power.

“I believe we can still persuade UK citizens that 'new nuclear' is the wrong thing for us to be doing.”

A Japanese couple who fled their home after the Fukushima disaster will be speaking at the Hinkley protest to explain how their life has been changed since the incident, when a tsunami caused a full-scale nuclear alert.

A spokesman for EDF Energy, which runs and operates Hinkley Point, said: “We respect the rights of individuals to peaceful protest. We are also sympathetic to the pressure these events can place on the local community with whom we have strong links.

“The safety of the public, our people and our plant is top priority. This will not change during the protest. We hope the protestors will respond positively to the efforts we have made to facilitate a peaceful and lawful protest and be mindful of our neighbours and our role in supplying low carbon electricity to over a million homes.”