A Burnham-based group campaigning against Hinkley Point power station has this week published a policy statement about the future of the nuclear plant – and called for the immediate closure of Hinkley B.
The statement, from Parents Concerned About Hinkley (PCAH), outlines ten points that it would like to see undertaken at the nuclear plant.
The group’s spokesperson, Jo Brown, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It’s important for people in the Burnham area to understand why we are here and what our key concerns are with regards Hinkley Point. These issues need to be put into the public domain.”
.Policy on Hinkley Point from ‘Parents Concerned About Hinkley’:
The campaign group’s policy requests:
1. Compliance with the Public Consultation on Hinkley site ‘end state’ for it to be returned to a green field site in the form of a nature reserve.
2. No on-site storage or disposal facilities for decommissioning or waste materials.
3. No on-site reprocessing of any kind, including vitrification or reducing cooling pond debris from one level of radiation to another.
4. An immediate stop to current decommissioning activities until proper safety measures are developed to prevent further public health damage.
5. The immediate closure of Hinkley B on the grounds of increasing risks of collapse of the reactor core safety constraints, fuel rod controls, boiler tube fractures etc.
6. Future safety measures to accept that the ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) dose/risk criteria do not now, and never have, protected nuclear workers or members of the public from health damage caused by exposure to radiation.
7. Acceptance of Hinkley site specific additional health risks from the 50sq km contaminated mud flats, the additional health risks to downwind coastal communities, the multiplicity of published scientific papers in the UK, Europe and the US showing that health damage risks increase with proximity to nuclear sites.
8. In the light of the above, no new build at Hinkley. Site ownership shall be returned to Somerset County Council when it has been cleaned up.
9. A compensation scheme shall be set up for all victims of radiation exposure since 1965, the basis of such claims being the diagnosis of any illness listed in the scientific papers mentioned above.
10. Somerset County Council to join the Association of Nuclear Free Local Authorities.
